Walden Wealth Partners LLC Takes $392,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Walden Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,420 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,474,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, 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 value of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,598,500. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded up $5.83 during trading on Monday, hitting $242.86. The company had a trading volume of 4,972,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,721,476. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $243.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $211.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $201.08 billion, a PE ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.04.

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.