Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Buys 152 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,297 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 8,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,740 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,476 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,327 shares of company stock valued at $15,338,110 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $4.28 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $197.26. 7,313,800 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,009,406. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $214.90 and its 200-day moving average is $211.76. The company has a market cap of $162.62 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Applied Materials 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.