KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 410 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Down 8.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $14.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $171.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,679,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,091,060. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $141.94 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $141.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.98. 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 data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

Applied Materials 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.