L & S Advisors Inc Acquires Shares of 13,005 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

L & S Advisors Inc bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,005 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,069,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% in 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 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 value of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.86.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $187.58 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $202.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

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.