UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 1,150 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,253 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.8% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $813,129,000 after buying an additional 130,238 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $687,936,000 after purchasing an additional 230,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,838,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,068,000 after purchasing an additional 308,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $207.32. The stock had a trading volume of 3,085,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,936,911. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $204.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.86 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The firm has a market cap of $172.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.