Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 629 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,743 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 629 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PFG Advisors increased its position in Applied Materials by 42.7% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 2,554 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 104.6% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,947 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $814,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 62.1% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 66,103 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,632,000 after purchasing an additional 25,323 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,032,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 408,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $84,239,000 after purchasing an additional 17,641 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, B. Riley cut their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

AMAT opened at $192.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.94 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’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 business earned $1.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

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.