Seven Mile Advisory Purchases 144 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Seven Mile Advisory boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,829 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 6,338 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $161.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 41.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.93%.

About Applied Materials

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.