FSM Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,652 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

FSM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,652 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $134,555,000 after purchasing an additional 54,261 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.7% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 12.6% in the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Bank of America increased their target price on Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.41.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $140.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $117.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.99. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $155.26.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 24th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $9,869,568. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at $15,907,690.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently 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.