Harbour Investments Inc. Trims Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Harbour Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,654 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $950,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 8.3% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the third quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 7,528 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 4,819 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lountzis Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lountzis Asset Management LLC now owns 107,449 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,710,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $168.88 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.94 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $139.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

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.