Wealth Architects LLC Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wealth Architects LLC decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,393 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Wealth Architects LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $57,000. MGB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $206,000. Concord Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $379,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 98.7% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 312 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 31,326 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $187.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $154.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $139.69 and a one year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.37.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.98%.

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.