Forsta AP Fonden Sells 7,300 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden sold 7,300 shares of Applied Materials, Inc., reducing its stake by 2.9% to 245,100 shares, valued at approximately $35.57 million.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their positions in Applied Materials, with Eagle Capital Management and Brighton Jones LLC growing their holdings significantly during the fourth quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Applied Materials show a consensus of "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of $204.09; notable changes include Mizuho raising its target to $220.00.

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 7,300 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $35,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.09.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $1.72 on Friday, reaching $184.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,338,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,090,117. The business's fifty day moving average price is $182.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The company has a market cap of $148.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $215.70.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.