Cottage Street Advisors LLC Buys 5,268 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cottage Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 52.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,303 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,268 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 1.1% of Cottage Street Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cottage Street Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $3.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,385,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,005,164. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.