Sunbelt Securities Inc. Grows Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 200.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $412,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after buying an additional 1,814,444 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 301.6% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $318,754,000 after buying an additional 1,471,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10,767.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,347,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $219,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $183.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 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 current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $163.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.27.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The company's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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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