Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,541 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 3,585 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 24,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,762,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $475,000. STAR Financial Bank increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 2,052 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.68.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $183.21 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $205.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.76. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

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.