Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 1,102 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ballentine Partners LLC trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,459 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.3% during the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.1% during the third quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on 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, KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.95.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.4 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $192.87 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $173.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $156.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th 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 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.