Ground Swell Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Key Points

• Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired 5,807 shares of Applied Materials, Inc. valued at approximately $843,000, making it the firm's 8th largest holding at 1.8% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 80.56% of Applied Materials stock, reflecting strong institutional interest in the company.
• Applied Materials recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 22.38%.

Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,807 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $843,000. Applied Materials makes up approximately 1.8% of Ground Swell Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,043,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,097 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 4,993,172 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $724,609,000 after purchasing an additional 280,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,830,923 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $701,064,000 after purchasing an additional 25,878 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $26.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $161.76. 31,753,938 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,199,587. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70. The company has a market cap of $129.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.70. The company's 50 day moving average price is $184.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 41.31%. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.84.

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.