Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Valley Wealth Managers Inc.

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,283 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $188.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $155.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.65. 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 twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.68.

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.