Insider Selling: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Director Sells 9,827 Shares of Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.4 %

AMAT stock traded down $5.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $229.84. The company had a trading volume of 5,925,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,810,369. 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 fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $249.42. The company has a market capitalization of $190.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. B. Riley boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,429 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.