932 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Abacus Planning Group Inc.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 932 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2 %

AMAT opened at $197.26 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $214.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.36. The firm has a market cap of $163.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, 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 transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,327 shares of company stock valued at $15,338,110 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company 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.