Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,645 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 5.6% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its position in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 1,445 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $237.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $249.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $218.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.10.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The business 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 business posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.