Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,683 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. JT Stratford LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2 %

AMAT stock traded up $4.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $197.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,313,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,009,406. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 62,327 shares of company stock valued at $15,338,110. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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, August 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.14.

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.