Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Sells 2,198 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,117 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,198 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1,666.7% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Steward Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 173.9% during the 1st quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 252 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 110.0% during the 2nd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 210 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, August 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.41.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $2.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $140.37. 2,847,182 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,036,300. The company has a market cap of $117.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $155.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.99.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.27% and a return on equity of 49.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 16.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total value of $1,420,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 69,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,869,568. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,869,568. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Profile

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.