Bard Financial Services Inc. Sells 7,550 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bard Financial Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,130 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,550 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 1.4% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 67.7% during the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 6,951 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 763.7% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,693,000 after acquiring an additional 33,664 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 10,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,165 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $170.35 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.05 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.