AIA Group Ltd Has $3.52 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 54.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,056 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,485 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $2.14 on Friday, hitting $243.40. The company had a trading volume of 5,395,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,685,383. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $227.53 and a 200-day moving average of $201.40.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.