J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,253 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 96.6% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued 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 $234.95.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $188.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $155.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $204.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.