Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 5,321 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 90.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,175 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,321 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.7%

AMAT opened at $172.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.24.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

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.