Horizon Investments LLC Sells 3,220 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. by 10.3%, selling 3,220 shares to end the quarter with 27,892 shares valued at $4,048,000.
• Applied Materials has received multiple rating changes, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.09.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.0%.

Horizon Investments LLC lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,892 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 3,220 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,829 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.84.

Applied Materials Trading Down 14.1%

Applied Materials stock traded down $26.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $161.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 31,753,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,199,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $129.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $184.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 41.31%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 21.93%.

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.