Grandfield & Dodd LLC Acquires 15,648 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 222,158 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,648 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 2.0% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $32,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814,444 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 301.6% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $318,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10,767.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,347,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $219,157,000 after buying an additional 1,335,180 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.74.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $1.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,715,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,107,132. The stock has a market cap of $153.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company's fifty day moving average price is $175.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.79. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $224.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

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.