Okabena Investment Services Inc. Sells 5,107 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Okabena Investment Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 67.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,107 shares during the quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after buying an additional 81,151 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,679,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $945,464,000 after acquiring an additional 44,928 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,839,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $906,134,000 after purchasing an additional 59,910 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective 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 fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $174.88 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $189.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.72. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.57 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $144.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

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.