Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,474,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $235.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $218.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $249.42. The company has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.