Old Port Advisors Has $433,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Old Port Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,664 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in 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. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $165.34. The company had a trading volume of 773,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,211,504. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.05 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $134.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.13.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.