First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $650,000 Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 879 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.1 %

AMAT stock opened at $175.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.57 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.97. The company has a market capitalization of $144.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.81.

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.