Summit Trail Advisors LLC Sells 228 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $899,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in Applied Materials by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $208.65. 622,570 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,908,288. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.86 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.53. 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 $173.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James upped their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.