2,586 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Brookwood Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• Brookwood Investment Group LLC has acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. valued at approximately $375,000, acquiring 2,586 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Applied Materials, with target price upgrades from Citigroup and Mizuho to $220.00, while other firms like JPMorgan and B. Riley have decreased their target prices.
• Applied Materials announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, with a scheduled payment for stockholders of record on August 21st, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.99%.

Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,586 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $2.43 on Friday, reaching $185.69. 6,580,937 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,161,150. The firm has a market cap of $149.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $177.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

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.