Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Position Trimmed by Norwood Financial Corp

Norwood Financial Corp lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,295 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 2.8% of Norwood Financial Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Norwood Financial Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 19.5% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 51,346 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,109,000 after purchasing an additional 8,371 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.2% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,999 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,183,000. Finally, Rench Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,136,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. B. Riley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

AMAT stock traded up $3.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $235.99. 6,386,931 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,787,150. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $218.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $249.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio 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.