Addison Advisors LLC Raises Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,354 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 131 shares during the quarter. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded down $4.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $176.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,307,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,025,573. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

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.