Prudent Man Advisors LLC Sells 238 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after buying an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 44,252 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,197,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,295,324 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $535,919,000 after purchasing an additional 40,581 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $158.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.38 and a 200 day moving average of $183.03. The stock has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.95 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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.