GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 3,385 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,172 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,385 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $230,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $183.52. 5,195,919 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,005,185. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $147.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.67. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.14.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 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 business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 1.00%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.24.

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.