Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 14,596 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 188,171 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 14,596 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $30,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $176.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.92. The company has a market capitalization of $143.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America cut their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” 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 issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

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.