Sigma Planning Corp Sells 4,738 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 55.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,828 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,738 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,464,000 after purchasing an additional 793,610 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $441,514,000 after purchasing an additional 778,716 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after purchasing an additional 570,080 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13,929.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $834,710,000 after purchasing an additional 511,357 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 117.6% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 926,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $128,341,000 after purchasing an additional 500,900 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

AMAT stock opened at $196.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $162.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $203.14 and its 200 day moving average is $170.93. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.15 and a 12 month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.82%.

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.