Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 2,873 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Calamos Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 233,104 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,873 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $37,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kaizen Financial Strategies boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% in the third quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the third quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 28,027 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $5.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $194.32. 6,102,708 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,198,809. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.12 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The company has a market cap of $161.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $202.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho upped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

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.