Raymond James Trust N.A. Sells 582 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Raymond James Trust N.A. trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,872 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 582 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $175.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.97. 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 12-month low of $144.57 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.