Apollon Wealth Management LLC Sells 847 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,658 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 847 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. CWM LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 62,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,711,000 after buying an additional 22,646 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in Applied Materials by 35.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 58,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,739,000 after purchasing an additional 15,265 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,198,000. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 7,848 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,586,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $180.00 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $146.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.19 and a 200 day moving average of $185.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.