Persium Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Persium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $1,588,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 18,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,647,430,000 after buying an additional 1,814,444 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 301.6% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $318,754,000 after buying an additional 1,471,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10,767.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,347,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $219,157,000 after buying an additional 1,335,180 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target 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 decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America cut their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $166.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $152.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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