Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,575 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 3.0% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays upgraded 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. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $4.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.27. The company had a trading volume of 4,595,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,800,904. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $249.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.86. The firm has a market cap of $193.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid 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 0.68%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.