LRI Investments LLC Sells 304 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LRI Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 613 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC increased its position 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 period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.1 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $168.17 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $148.05 and a one year high of $255.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $185.31 and its 200 day moving average is $202.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 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 issued 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 dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.29.

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.