Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Acquires New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Key Points

• Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL has acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc., purchasing 2,382 shares valued at approximately $346,000.
• Applied Materials reported a quarterly EPS of $2.39, surpassing expectations, with a revenue of $7.10 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 6.8%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 22.38%.

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Skye Global Management LP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $230,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $11,640,000 after acquiring an additional 9,672 shares during the period. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other 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 directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $184.87. 4,338,229 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,090,117. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $181.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.81. 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 stock has a market cap of $148.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.09.

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.