Cetera Investment Advisers Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 19.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 234,414 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 56,147 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $55,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $197.20 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.01.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.81%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

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.