Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management

B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,364 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 63,499 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,291,000 after buying an additional 4,711 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after buying an additional 1,498 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth 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 purchasing an additional 20,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $1.80 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $203.26. 1,505,589 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,015,992. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $168.29 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 50 day moving average of $194.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business 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%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.90.

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.