Personal CFO Solutions LLC Acquires 162 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.4% during the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,011 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 319,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $46,183,000 after purchasing an additional 47,896 shares during the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 115,535 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $16,699,000 after purchasing an additional 43,442 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 17.1% during the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 36,803 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,320,000 after purchasing an additional 5,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascension Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $4,349,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, August 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $148.59 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $124.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.14. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.68 and a 12 month high of $157.76.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.52 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.27% and a return on equity of 49.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Company 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.