AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC Sells 2,088 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,153 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,088 shares during the quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after buying an additional 164,085 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after acquiring an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.24.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

AMAT opened at $170.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.84 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $173.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.18.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.