Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 94,861 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,849,953 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 94,861 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.23% of Applied Materials worth $268,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 10,385 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 2,814 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,188 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,106,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 9,510 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $351,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,571 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was 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 Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their price target 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 dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $4.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $170.59. 5,292,961 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,989,010. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market cap of $136.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $156.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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 1.08%. The ex-dividend date 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.