Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,517 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up approximately 0.9% of Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,474,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $237.55. The company had a trading volume of 3,681,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,749,226. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $210.36 and its 200-day moving average is $188.44. The stock has a market cap of $196.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.56. 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 $238.40.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $6,598,500 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.