Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Has $548,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,745 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 227 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 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 issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $174.88 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $189.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.72. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.57 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.