Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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 report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James raised 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, TD Cowen upped their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,327 shares of company stock worth $15,338,110. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2 %

AMAT stock opened at $197.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $162.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.