Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.65. The company had a trading volume of 622,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,908,288. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.86 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Raymond James increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.