Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in 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. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,474,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies boosted its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna increased their price target on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $235.99 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $249.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.