LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 706,696 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 69,057 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.09% of Applied Materials worth $102,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in 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 raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 25,448 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $4,504,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 15,444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 2,420 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.17.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Applied Materials
Applied Materials Stock Up 0.5%
AMAT traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $189.39. 3,958,519 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,725,215. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $215.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $179.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.88. 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 announced 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.
Applied Materials Dividend Announcement
The business 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company'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 value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.
About Applied Materials
(
Free Report)
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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