MQS Management LLC Buys New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,479 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $795,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 61,532 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $8,930,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,037 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 65,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $9,504,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares during the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 2,662 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $197.59. 3,426,886 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,102,209. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $171.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.94. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $248.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company 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 company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.74.

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.