Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,350 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 0.9% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2,401.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $445,056,000 after buying an additional 2,944,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after buying an additional 1,814,444 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 301.6% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $318,754,000 after buying an additional 1,471,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10,767.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,347,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $219,157,000 after buying an additional 1,335,180 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.09.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $184.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.