Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 124 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,036 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 124 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,903 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 14,736 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 33,825 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,501,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vision Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,575 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $180.67 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.