Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,255 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 341.0% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after buying an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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, November 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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 report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $173.65 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.84 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $141.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $173.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.