Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD Buys Shares of 1,695 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,695 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Omaha raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 2,644 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the first quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 25,145 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $152.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Timothy M. Deane sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.30, for a total transaction of $1,029,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 100,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,834,210.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Timothy M. Deane sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.30, for a total transaction of $1,029,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 100,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,834,210.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,500 shares of company stock worth $2,599,790 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $154.25. 1,677,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,048,873. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $154.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $144.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.89. The company has a market cap of $129.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.15 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 24.27%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 23rd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 16.89%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.