Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC Has $810,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,978 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,688 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,351,000 after buying an additional 1,626 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 55,149 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,142,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $2,726,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,352 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $155.68 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.55 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $173.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

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.