B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,113 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,116 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of AMAT opened at $157.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $150.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.15. The stock has a market cap of $127.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% 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.