Sebold Capital Management Inc. Sells 218 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sebold Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Sebold Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $297,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 28,027 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the third quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,389 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $208.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.00 and a 12-month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.83.

Applied Materials 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.