Delta Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,626 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,748 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up 2.5% of Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $930,505,000. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $76,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 79,147.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,726,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $557,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719,196 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,388,933,000 after buying an additional 1,925,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 63.9% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,892,930 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $562,685,000 after buying an additional 1,517,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $2.31 on Thursday, hitting $197.58. 2,262,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,146,269. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.12 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $202.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC boosted 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. 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. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.