Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Reduces Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,205 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $1,764,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $243,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 17.3% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,949 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,939,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 5.7 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $196.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market cap of $162.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $199.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.00.

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.