Autumn Glory Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 36.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,145 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 1,835 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% in the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.3% in the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.
AMAT stock opened at $169.20 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $137.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.84.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.
Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.10.
View Our Latest Analysis on AMAT
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.
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