Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 443,840 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,746 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.05% of Applied Materials worth $64,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.3%

Applied Materials stock traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $175.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,466,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,967,821. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $140.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $154.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.21. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.