Sebold Capital Management Inc. Sells 218 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sebold Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 218 shares during the quarter. Sebold Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $7,274,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 31.2% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,194 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,466 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 9.1% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $114,919,000 after buying an additional 69,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $208.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $172.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $189.26 and its 200 day moving average is $161.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.00 and a 52-week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. B. Riley raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.83.

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.