Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,790 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3,940.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after buying an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after acquiring an additional 973,218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. UBS Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’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 value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $188.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $155.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

About Applied Materials

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.