GraniteShares Advisors LLC Sells 257 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,578 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $165.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $134.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Company 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.