Grove Bank & Trust Sells 392 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Grove Bank & Trust lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,328 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 392 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded up $7.68 during trading on Monday, reaching $212.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,172,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,990,920. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.78. The company has a market cap of $176.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Applied Materials 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.