Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by 180 Wealth Advisors LLC

180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,523 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,648 shares during the quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in Applied Materials by 55.6% during the fourth 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. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $7,274,000. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $1,764,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Susquehanna upped their target price on 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 Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $6.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $238.62. 1,281,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,745,987. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $216.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The firm has a market cap of $197.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.67%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.