Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 7,064 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,064 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $204.09 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $111.72 and a 52 week high of $214.91. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.57. The firm has a market cap of $169.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.