Peak Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.09 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Peak Financial Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 57.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,678 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,149 shares during the quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.3 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $177.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $144.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $173.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.74. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.84 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.