Spire Wealth Management Has $5.73 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 59.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 14,740 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley lowered 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.24.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $183.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,195,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,013,936. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $161.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.14. The firm has a market cap of $147.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

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.