Financial Management Professionals Inc. Acquires 49 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,474,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies boosted its stake 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 worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $235.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $218.22 and a 200 day moving average of $195.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued 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 currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.