Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,723 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,634 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,723 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $299,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,466 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $189.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $157.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.15 and a twelve month high of $214.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $202.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.38.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

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.