SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,155 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $15,303,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $166.74 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.24.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased 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 owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.