Bleakley Financial Group LLC Acquires 2,468 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,293 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,468 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 972.2% during 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 last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1%

AMAT traded down $2.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,563,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,361,328. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $224.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $175.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.79. The company has a market cap of $152.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. 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 firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials 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.