Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Quotient Wealth Partners LLC

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,493 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 89 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its position 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $180.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. 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 company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.89%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.