Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Acquires 191 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,836 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 96.6% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, 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 directly 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 accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $3.93 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $207.90. 11,644,577 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,003,964. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $172.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $222.50 and a 200-day moving average of $209.40.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.56.

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.