Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 222 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.68.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $183.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $205.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.76. The company has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.