Qtron Investments LLC Sells 834 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Qtron Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,369 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 834 shares during the quarter. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% during the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at $44,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research cut their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $161.76 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

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.