Kanawha Capital Management LLC Has $562,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,454 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.3% in the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.00.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $184.27 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $149.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.