Fullcircle Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 1,664 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fullcircle Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,664 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Skye Global Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $11,640,000 after acquiring an additional 9,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,538,743 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $250,246,000 after acquiring an additional 13,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Bank of America lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.65.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $197.93. 4,423,891 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,109,438. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $248.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $171.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.