Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 459 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,539 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,011 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 25.7% in the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 134,354 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,146,000 after purchasing an additional 27,427 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 144,836 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $29,264,000 after buying an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Applied Materials by 20.3% during the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 134,559 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $27,189,000 after acquiring an additional 22,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.1% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,889 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $180.00 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. 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.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.