Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 26.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 5,212 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Applied Materials by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $161.93. The stock had a trading volume of 5,989,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,937,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock's 50 day moving average is $151.08 and its 200 day moving average is $163.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.