Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 20,561 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 122,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,561 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted 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. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.0 %

AMAT opened at $172.85 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.14. 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 capitalization of $140.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

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.