First City Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First City Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,050 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after acquiring an additional 682,098 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 224,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after purchasing an additional 360,002 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,762,000 after purchasing an additional 116,808 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $192.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $198.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.18. 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 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.05.

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.