1,180 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Calton & Associates Inc.

Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $7,274,000. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $1,764,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

AMAT opened at $235.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56. 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 200-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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.