Fortitude Family Office LLC Sells 55 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fortitude Family Office LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 55.6% during 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 worth approximately $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction 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 $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $6,598,500 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of AMAT traded down $4.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.41. 15,389,140 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,735,734. The company has a market capitalization of $194.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.14 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $249.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $214.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

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.