Americana Partners LLC Sells 993 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Americana Partners LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,945 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 993 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $4.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $197.26. The stock had a trading volume of 7,313,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,009,392. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $214.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.36. 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 twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $163.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 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 sold 62,327 shares of company stock valued at $15,338,110. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

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.