Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 7,838 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,466 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,838 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 27.9% during the first quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 16,907 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,454,000 after purchasing an additional 3,690 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA raised its stake in Applied Materials by 84.0% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 12,789 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,856,000 after buying an additional 5,838 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 295.3% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 23,705 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,440,000 after acquiring an additional 17,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.8% in the first quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,644,000 after acquiring an additional 5,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 31.8% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 29,413 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $4,268,000 after acquiring an additional 7,092 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $2.26 on Thursday, reaching $164.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,337,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,949,034. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $151.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The company's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. 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 initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the 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 directly owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.48.

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.