Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,727 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,496 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Skye Global Management LP acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $230,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $11,640,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.3%

AMAT stock traded down $2.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $185.69. 6,580,937 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,161,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $177.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.54. The company has a market capitalization of $149.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.