AdvisorNet Financial Inc Has $576,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,791 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 82 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after purchasing an additional 973,218 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,514,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $229.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $249.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 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, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

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.