Lion Street Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Lion Street Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,056 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 322,140 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,720 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $218,000. PBMares Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $219,000. Tobam grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 190.5% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 1,383 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,335 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,241,000 after acquiring an additional 18,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $191.18. 5,050,766 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,933,131. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $158.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $224.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.25. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 a total of 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.00.

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.