Marcum Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Marcum Wealth LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,987 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $203.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.81. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $168.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

About Applied Materials

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.