KWB Wealth Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

KWB Wealth trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,871 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. KWB Wealth’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 51.3% in the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 3,596 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 13,714 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.0 %

AMAT stock traded up $2.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $243.31. 2,768,843 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,211,725. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $221.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $249.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.