180 Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 2,648 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,523 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares during the quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.6 %

AMAT stock traded up $6.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $238.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,281,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,745,987. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $216.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.73. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $249.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $197.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of 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 research note on Monday, May 13th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.