Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,454 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” 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 given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $171.65 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.48 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $173.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.