General American Investors Co. Inc. Acquires 10,000 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

General American Investors Co. Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,652 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. General American Investors Co. Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% in the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $2.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.44. The company had a trading volume of 4,756,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,118,552. The company's fifty day moving average price is $175.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.79. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $224.09. The stock has a market cap of $152.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 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 analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.74.

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.