AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC Sells 2,605 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 32.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,605 shares during the quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of 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 buying an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $15,303,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $166.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.23 and a 200 day moving average of $163.24. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.29.

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.

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