Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Sells 198 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% in the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 19,832 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,007,000 after buying an additional 1,864 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 11,927 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $183.75 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $152.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

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.