Kovack Advisors Inc. Buys 99 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,847 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $2.45 on Thursday, hitting $243.31. 2,768,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,211,725. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.19. The company has a market cap of $201.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were 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 owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.