Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 31.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,413 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 7,092 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, B. Riley cut 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $166.74. The company had a trading volume of 5,678,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,952,352. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value 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 approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.