First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 4,116 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,584 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,116 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,892 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 13,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,950 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,709 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company has a market cap of $154.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $195.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.21.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. 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.