Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $14.79 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,972 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% during the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (down from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.84.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $161.76 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.54. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $129.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. 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.