WD Rutherford LLC Boosts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

WD Rutherford LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 105.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,851 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the quarter. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $3.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $235.99. 6,387,433 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,592,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $218.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.56. The stock has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share 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 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. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

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.