Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Sells 155 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,410 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $2.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $192.03. 4,767,343 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,360,265. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.99 and its 200-day moving average is $207.30. The company has a market capitalization of $158.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.94 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Company 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.