1,929 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Acquired by Highland Capital Management LLC

Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,929 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its position in Applied Materials by 9.6% in the second quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31,565.1% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 555,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $80,233,000 after acquiring an additional 553,337 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 8,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.3% during the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,370 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.59.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.9 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $154.08 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.68 and a fifty-two week high of $155.26. The stock has a market cap of $129.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 16.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,907,690.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.