Amalgamated Bank Trims Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,782 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,272 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $41,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 67,648 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $188.59 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.55. The stock has a market cap of $156.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

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.