Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Archford Capital Strategies LLC

Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 37.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 6,161 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised 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 valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 9,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,388,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America cut 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $183.52. The company had a trading volume of 5,195,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,005,189. The company has a market cap of $147.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.14.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Applied Materials Company 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.