William Allan Corp Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

William Allan Corp cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 48,411 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,215 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 5.9% of William Allan Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. William Allan Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its position 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $171.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.57 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $141.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.05.

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.