Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,641 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $31,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after purchasing an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after buying an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,356,094,000 after buying an additional 587,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

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

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $0.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,568,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,090,031. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $153.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.69. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.93.

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

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors 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 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.76.

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.