Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 617 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 617 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. JT Stratford LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $181.82 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $149.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.36 and a 200-day moving average of $207.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

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.