Cetera Investment Advisers Lowers Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,861 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,064 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $13,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in Applied Materials by 9.6% in the second quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31,565.1% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 555,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $80,233,000 after purchasing an additional 553,337 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% in the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 8,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.3% in the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,370 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.59.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $154.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $129.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.68 and a 12-month high of $155.26.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.15 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 24.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.89%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.