TruNorth Capital Management LLC Sells 755 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

TruNorth Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,362 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 755 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $137.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $175.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.74.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.