Davis Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Davis Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,716 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,143 shares during the period. Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Applied Materials stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $170.86. The stock had a trading volume of 5,460,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,005,852. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.84 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.91 and a 200 day moving average of $192.62. The firm has a market cap of $139.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.