Moors & Cabot Inc. Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $187.58 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.86.

About Applied Materials

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.