Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Cuts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,544 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank raised its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lowered 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 report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $203.96 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $194.32 and a 200-day moving average of $209.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 currently 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.