Rhumbline Advisers Sells 25,859 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,574,456 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 25,859 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $256,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.10.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $169.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.44 and a 200-day moving average of $184.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $137.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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.