Financial Security Advisor Inc. Has $214,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Financial Security Advisor Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,317 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,068 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,825 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after buying an additional 866 shares during the period. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 23,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,846,000 after buying an additional 9,100 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 229.9% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 10,076 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 7,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 6,044 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 2,497 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $156.67 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.38 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Applied Materials Company 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.