Oak Harvest Investment Services Has $2.83 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,714 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,012 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 1,445 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded up $2.45 on Thursday, reaching $243.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,768,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,211,725. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.51. The company has a market cap of $201.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $249.42.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Profile

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.