Claro Advisors LLC Sells 2,378 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Claro Advisors LLC lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 56.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,869 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,378 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $195.61 and its 200-day moving average is $209.23. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $154.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

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.