ICA Group Wealth Management LLC Has $98,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

ICA Group Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 86.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 417 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,615 shares during the quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $98,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $1,089,000. Seven Mile Advisory raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 2,930 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Williams Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,263,000. Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 1,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 15,253 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,600,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $188.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $155.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.80.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 on the stock in a 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 company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.95.

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.