Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Sunburst Financial Group LLC

Sunburst Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,871 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after buying an additional 973,218 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after purchasing an additional 682,098 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after purchasing an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,514,814,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $6.27 on Friday, reaching $238.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,101,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,744,535. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $249.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $216.53 and a 200 day moving average of $194.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.