Everett Harris & Co. CA Sells 400 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Everett Harris & Co. CA lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,376 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $134,555,000 after purchasing an additional 54,261 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.83.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $206.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,749,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,571,782. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $190.35 and a 200-day moving average of $161.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.00 and a 52-week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

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.