Larson Financial Group LLC Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Larson Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,779 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,431 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.2% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 72.4% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 16,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,264,000 after buying an additional 6,786 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% during the third quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 1,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 7,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,572,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.7 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $155.68 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.55 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio 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.