Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,771 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,301 shares during the quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $180.00 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $175.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.32. The company has a market cap of $146.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. 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.