Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Has $320,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,586 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 35,369 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 89.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.1% during the third quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 51,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,360,000 after purchasing an additional 7,094 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,949 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,939,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the period. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $3,069,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $186.48 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 17.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

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.