Sowell Financial Services LLC Takes $1.53 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,529 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,528,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.0%

AMAT traded down $3.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $169.46. 18,385,582 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,038,696. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.67. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $159.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.08.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid 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 1.09%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.