STAR Financial Bank Has $311,000 Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

STAR Financial Bank reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,538 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 514 shares during the quarter. STAR Financial Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.7 %

AMAT opened at $170.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $140.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $190.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.19. 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 issued its 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.81.

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.