Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is Lountzis Asset Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Lountzis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120,219 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,570 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 6.8% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Lountzis Asset Management LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vision Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 32.8% in the first quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,391 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,653,000 after buying an additional 2,816 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $200,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.3% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 22,390 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,362,000 after buying an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the first quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.9% in the first quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.65.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.1%

AMAT stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $198.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,318,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,095,597. The company has a market cap of $159.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.69. The business's 50 day moving average price is $171.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.57.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.