Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,256 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,474,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Applied Materials stock traded up $3.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $235.99. The company had a trading volume of 6,387,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,592,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $218.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.56. The firm has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% 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. The company 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.