Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,514 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,420 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,309,000 after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $1,658,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.68.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $183.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.