Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 20.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,286 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,741 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $2.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $164.57. 1,942,669 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,928,179. The company has a market cap of $132.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.