Park Place Capital Corp Lowers Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Park Place Capital Corp lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $74,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Six equities research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.84.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $14.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $181.81. The company had a trading volume of 12,991,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,521,505. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.16. The stock has a market cap of $150.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Applied Materials Company 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.