Atomi Financial Group Inc. Has $943,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,669 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 63,499 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,291,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,748,000 after buying an additional 1,498 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 12,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,854,000. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its position in Applied Materials by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 247,940 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $40,184,000 after acquiring an additional 20,987 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $205.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.90.

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.