Addison Advisors LLC Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,354 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 32,033 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,423 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $4.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $176.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,307,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,025,573. The firm has a market cap of $145.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $211.19 and its 200 day moving average is $211.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.