18,392 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Calton & Associates Inc.

Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,392 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,669,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AMAT. 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho upped their target price on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.74.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $2.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $190.44. The stock had a trading volume of 4,756,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,118,573. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $175.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.00. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $224.09. The firm has a market cap of $152.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.12 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.