Old Port Advisors Sells 153 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Old Port Advisors lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,664 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 9.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,118,152 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $225,923,000 after purchasing an additional 96,009 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,229 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,461,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 7,671 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,550,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Milestone Resources Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 41.6% in the third quarter. Milestone Resources Group Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dantai Capital Ltd grew its stake in Applied Materials by 42.1% in the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 8,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $165.34. 773,455 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,211,504. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.53 and a 200-day moving average of $196.13. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.05 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.29.

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.