West Oak Capital LLC Acquires 515 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,007 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up 1.1% of West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. B. Riley boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction 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 $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $3.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $240.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,509,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,756,798. The company has a market capitalization of $199.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $249.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $219.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.63.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.