Canopy Partners LLC Sells 59 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Canopy Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,651 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.74. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $144.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 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, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

About Applied Materials

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.