Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,305 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,421 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in shares of 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. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $178.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.14. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $145.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

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.