EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,996 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,339 shares during the period. EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.05.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $197.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $162.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.98.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

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.