Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,542 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 28,027 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho raised their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $5.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $203.38. The company had a trading volume of 3,932,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,121,953. The company has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $214.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $203.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

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.