Moors & Cabot Inc. Decreases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Moors & Cabot Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,897 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 252.0% in the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 3,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 26.9% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,636,000 after purchasing an additional 11,165 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.7 %

AMAT stock opened at $170.49 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $140.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $190.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

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.