Marshall Financial Group LLC Sells 722 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Marshall Financial Group LLC lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 32.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 722 shares during the quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 60,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $9,787,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 58,209 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,467,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 16,463 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,677,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 580.2% in the fourth quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 33,509 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,450,000 after acquiring an additional 28,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $186.75 on Monday. 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 one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.