Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $14.15 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 34.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 97,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,928 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 9,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $183.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,195,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,013,936. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $147.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 target price on Applied Materials and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.24.

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.