Norris Perne & French LLP MI Sells 2,122 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,283 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,122 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 2.2% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $30,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 592.9% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $181.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $147.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.