Legacy Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,229 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.2 %

AMAT stock traded up $4.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $197.26. The stock had a trading volume of 7,313,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,009,392. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.36. 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 has a market cap of $163.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials 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 transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,327 shares of company stock worth $15,338,110. 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.