Jessup Wealth Management Inc Sells 156 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Jessup Wealth Management Inc cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 156 shares during the period. Jessup Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,514,814,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after purchasing an additional 973,218 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2 %

AMAT traded up $5.13 on Friday, hitting $237.66. 1,980,254 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,751,621. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $216.53 and its 200-day moving average is $194.73. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $249.42. 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 company has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. 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 stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.