Advocate Group LLC Sells 358 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Advocate Group LLC reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,628 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 358 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Clarus Wealth Advisors increased its position in Applied Materials by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors now owns 1,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the third quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 6,190 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 8,369 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 62,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,711,000 after purchasing an additional 22,646 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.4 %

AMAT traded down $2.81 during trading on Thursday, reaching $202.25. 676,263 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,011,439. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $194.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.