WESPAC Advisors LLC Has $269,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

WESPAC Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,332 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,156 shares during the quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $382,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,466 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,851,000 after buying an additional 2,840 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 65,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,405,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 7,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $189.83 and its 200-day moving average is $205.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.05.

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.