Family Capital Management Inc. Has $556,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Family Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,430 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Family Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 76.9% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $5.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $194.32. The company had a trading volume of 6,102,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,198,809. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.06. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.12 and a 12 month high of $214.91. The stock 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. 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. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials 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.