Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Winthrop Advisory Group LLC

Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 15.0% in the third quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $333,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 53.3% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 78.5% in the third quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 2,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,118,152 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $225,923,000 after purchasing an additional 96,009 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $194.09 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $191.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.37. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.61 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $160.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

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.