First Hawaiian Bank Lowers Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First Hawaiian Bank trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,781 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,532 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings 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. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $176.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $144.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.24 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $174.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped 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 note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.29.

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.