NBC Securities Inc. Has $728,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 100,280.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,019 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 5,014 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew 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 worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction 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 approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.6%

Applied Materials stock traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $166.74. 5,678,527 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,940,388. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $151.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 reacquire 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 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.