Isthmus Partners LLC Sells 6,153 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Isthmus Partners LLC cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 71,255 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,153 shares during the quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,573,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 34,778 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,637,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $5.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $174.75. The stock had a trading volume of 8,887,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,066,871. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $209.96 and its 200 day moving average is $211.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Applied Materials Profile

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.