Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,203 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $465,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 443,840 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $64,410,000 after buying an additional 14,746 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,729 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $4,169,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 42.5% in the first quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 7,042 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Applied Materials
In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased 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. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AMAT
Applied Materials Stock Performance
Shares of AMAT traded up $5.96 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $176.55. The stock had a trading volume of 6,672,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,987,906. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.68 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.
Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Applied Materials Announces Dividend
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 issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.
Applied Materials Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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