IHT Wealth Management LLC Has $571,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,967 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 53.2% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 337 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 55.0% during the third quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 372 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Emfo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 499 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 75.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $122.60 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.12 and a 52-week high of $142.01. The company has a market capitalization of $103.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.83 and a 200-day moving average of $101.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 55.08% and a net margin of 24.57%. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 25th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 24th. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.94%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 13th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. StockNews.com started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $279.00 to $271.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Barclays downgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total transaction of $40,640.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,868 shares in the company, valued at $4,297,770.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,548,110.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total transaction of $40,640.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,297,770.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation.