Blair William & Co. IL Grows Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,791 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $46,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $182.82 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $180.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $146.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.09.

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.

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