Drive Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Drive Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 9.2 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $168.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.94 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.71% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.81.

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.