First Horizon Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,573 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 286 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% in the third quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,540 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho raised their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $204.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $111.72 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $203.89 and its 200 day moving average is $173.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

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.