Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc

O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,118 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aldebaran Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $1,764,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,130,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $3.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $207.90. The company had a trading volume of 11,639,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,003,964. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $222.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.40. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.56.

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.