Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC Has $3.45 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,608 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 283 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 2.4% of Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $192.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.16. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $159.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. 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 data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.05.

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.