Romano Brothers AND Company Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Romano Brothers AND Company grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 27.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,907 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,690 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. B. Riley lowered 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. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.48.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $161.93. The company had a trading volume of 5,989,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,937,039. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $151.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.