Breakwater Capital Group Acquires 60 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Breakwater Capital Group lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,445 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $741,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 11,822.8% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 19,911 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 19,744 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 4,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 23,091 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $249,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $235.99 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $249.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $218.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.