877 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Weatherly Asset Management L. P.

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 877 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 89.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after buying an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $611,000. Finally, Balentine LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 19,263 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,538 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, 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 in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,327 shares of company stock worth $15,338,110 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $4.28 on Friday, reaching $197.26. 7,313,848 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,185,531. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $162.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $214.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Finally, B. Riley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.14.

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.