LVW Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LVW Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. JT Stratford LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.7% during the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $205.06 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $169.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $194.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. B. Riley decreased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

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.