Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Has $1.84 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,921 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $25,000. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 67.3% during the first quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 251 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Dixon Hughes Goodman Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, NuWave Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 16th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $135.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $153.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.30, for a total value of $1,294,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,040,484.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $109.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $95.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.70 and a 200-day moving average of $116.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.67 and a 1-year high of $167.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.35 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.20% and a return on equity of 57.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 25th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 24th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 13.87%.

Applied Materials Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.