Williams Financial LLC Buys New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,352 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was 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 owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Applied Materials 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 owns 49,185 shares in the company, 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, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. B. Riley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 note on Friday, August 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.95.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $188.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.71. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.