Goldstone Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 42.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,574 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $170.59 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.14. The company has a market cap of $136.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.