Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. Purchases New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,590 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $11,640,000 after acquiring an additional 9,672 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley lowered their target price 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, Barclays lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $4.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $170.59. 5,292,961 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,989,010. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. 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 $136.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $156.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.14.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.