Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 118 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 91,056 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,488,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 88.7% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 61,346 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,477,000 after acquiring an additional 28,835 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 40,870 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $9,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $1,089,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $188.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $155.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s quarterly 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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.95.

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.