FourThought Financial Partners LLC Sells 5,513 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,319 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,513 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 46.3% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 207,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,663,000 after acquiring an additional 20,491 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 21,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,312 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 65,361 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $9,049,000 after purchasing an additional 9,292 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $6.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $204.09. 3,818,510 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $111.72 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $203.89 and a 200-day moving average of $173.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho raised their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.