Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Sells 2,310 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,901 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,310 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional raised its stake in Applied Materials by 344.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,945 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 14.6% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,013 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 223,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,910,000 after acquiring an additional 27,348 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $345,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.00.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $180.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.20 and a 200 day moving average of $184.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.