Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Insider Prabu G. Raja Sells 50,000 Shares

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) 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 transaction, 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 this link.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $232.17 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.47. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JT Stratford LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.9% during the first quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

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.