SouthState Corp Decreases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

SouthState Corp lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,615 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $180.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Company 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.