Sen. John Boozman Sells Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas) recently sold shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT). In a filing disclosed on January 14th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Applied Materials stock on December 23rd.

Senator John Boozman also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF (BATS:BBEU) on 11/20/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO) on 11/20/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF (NASDAQ:AAXJ) on 11/20/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ:SWKS) on 11/20/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) on 11/13/2024.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $173.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $173.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.74. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.84 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.24.

About Senator Boozman

John Boozman (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Arkansas. He assumed office on January 3, 2011. His current term ends on January 3, 2029. Boozman (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Arkansas. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022. Boozman won re-election in 2016. He faced Democrat Conner Eldridge, Libertarian Frank Gilbert, and write-in candidate Jason Tate in the general election. Arkansas’ U.S. Senate race was rated as safely Republican in 2016. Boozman began his political career in the U.S. House. He won a special election in 2001 and served in that position until his election to the Senate in 2010. Prior to his political career, Boozman worked as an optometrist. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Boozman is an average Republican member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Republican Party on the majority of bills. Below is an abbreviated outline of Boozman’s academic, professional, and political career: 2011-Present: U.S. Senator from Arkansas 2001-2011: U.S. Representative from Arkansas 1977: Graduated from Southern College of Optometry

Applied Materials Company 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.