Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Holdings Lifted by F&V Capital Management LLC

F&V Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,810 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,359 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 3.8% of F&V Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. F&V Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,362 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 105.7% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 112,478 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,573,000 after buying an additional 57,791 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,578 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,201 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Mizuho increased their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded down $2.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $232.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,815,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,794,307. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $215.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.47. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $249.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% 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.