Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc.

Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 645.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 846 shares during the quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,999 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 22.9% during the third quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 4,709 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $741,000. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $1,442,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 11,822.8% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 19,911 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after buying an additional 19,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $3.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $235.99. 6,387,433 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,592,667. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $249.42. The stock has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.