Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 90.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,175 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,321 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of AMAT traded down $3.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $169.46. The company had a trading volume of 18,385,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,038,696. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $158.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.17. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $135.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.67.

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. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. Applied Materials's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.