Vest Financial LLC Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,478 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,707 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $32,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business'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 sale, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, B. Riley reduced 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 report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of AMAT opened at $164.19 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $131.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign 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.

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