Private Advisory Group LLC Buys 367 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Private Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,837 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Private Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.0% during the second quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 1,213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 8,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $191,000. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

Applied Materials stock traded up $2.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $202.52. The stock had a trading volume of 382,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,952,415. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.52. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen raised 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. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials 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.