Platform Technology Partners Has $292,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Platform Technology Partners cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,009 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 865 shares during the quarter. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Skye Global Management LP acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,640,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 13,667 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price objective on Applied Materials and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.65.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $197.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $171.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.95. The firm 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $248.81.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.