Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 2,450 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,323 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $17,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 637,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $103,699,000 after acquiring an additional 80,073 shares during the period. Twin City Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $459,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $356,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.74.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $1.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $188.12. 4,805,343 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,180,138. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $176.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.46. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $215.70. The company has a market cap of $150.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.