Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Sells 364 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,517 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up about 0.9% of Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management increased its position in Applied Materials by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after buying an additional 6,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $6,598,500. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $237.55. 3,681,196 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,749,226. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.44. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $238.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.