Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Ignite Planners LLC

Ignite Planners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,053 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 432 shares during the quarter. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during 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 during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.24.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $173.65 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.84 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $173.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.74. The stock has a market cap of $141.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

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.