Summit Financial Strategies Inc. Sells 160 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Summit Financial Strategies Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,261 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Summit Financial Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,070,167,000 after acquiring an additional 490,597 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 9.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 438,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7 %

AMAT stock traded up $3.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $187.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,228,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,065,091. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $195.86 and a 200 day moving average of $209.55. The company has a market cap of $155.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

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.