LRI Investments LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 140.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,764,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 89.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.4% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $611,000. Finally, Balentine LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 19,263 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,538 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

AMAT opened at $202.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $219.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.14.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’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 value of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.