Raub Brock Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 95,934 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Raub Brock Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 95,934 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,922,000. Applied Materials makes up about 3.1% of Raub Brock Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.5% during the first quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 2,709 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $70,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,569 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 226,950 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $32,935,000 after purchasing an additional 21,974 shares during the period. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 42.3% during the first quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm'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 value of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $5.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $175.64. 2,699,939 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,972,477. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $156.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.09. The stock has a market cap of $140.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.29.

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.