Captrust Financial Advisors Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Captrust Financial Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,766 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 9,730 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 658,407 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $133,033,000 after acquiring an additional 13,168 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 19,113 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,584,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 57,229 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,563,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $174.71 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.41. The company has a market capitalization of $144.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.