Advisor Resource Council Acquires New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at $418,000. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 2,019 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group raised its stake in Applied Materials by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 32,423 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $4,705,000 after acquiring an additional 4,539 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.1% during the first quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 35,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,197,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $183.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,425,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,012,412. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $146.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.67. The business's 50 day moving average is $161.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.14.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.