Invesco LLC Sells 3,471 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Invesco LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 37.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,833 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 3,471 shares during the quarter. Invesco LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Retirement Guys Formula LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 9,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,667 shares in the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 19.5% in the first quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 58,165 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 15.6% in the first quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 19,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 8.4% in the first quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 73,423 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $10,655,000 after purchasing an additional 5,669 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 6.9% during the first quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,693 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

AMAT traded up $2.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $183.07. 5,425,035 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,003,513. The company's fifty day moving average price is $160.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. B. Riley cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.24.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.