Cornerstone Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Key Points

• Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 14.8%, owning 87,600 shares valued at approximately $12.7 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analyst ratings for Applied Materials show a consensus of 17 buy ratings and 9 hold ratings, with a current price target of $204.09.
• The company reported earnings of $2.39 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate, alongside a revenue increase of 6.8% year-over-year.

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 14.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,600 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,300 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Schnieders Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 41.5% during the 1st quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC now owns 11,534 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,535,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Twin City Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 95.1% in the first quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 2,687 shares during the period. Finally, Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.0% during the first quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 15,278 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.09.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials 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 transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $184.87. 4,338,229 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,230,918. The firm has a market cap of $148.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $181.57 and a 200-day moving average of $166.81. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $215.70.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.