Andina Capital Management LLC Sells 131 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Andina Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,379 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $186.75 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $151.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $174.00 and a 200 day moving average of $189.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

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.