Inscription Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 2,449 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,449 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $15,303,000. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 $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 owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.7%

AMAT opened at $172.84 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The stock has a market cap of $138.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $157.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.24.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on 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 assigned a buy rating to the 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 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.

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