HF Advisory Group LLC Buys Shares of 5,286 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,286 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,805,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,303,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded up $2.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $166.74. The company had a trading volume of 5,678,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,940,391. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. 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 $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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.26.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.