1,057 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by First Western Trust Bank

First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,057 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,514,814,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after buying an additional 2,121,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $464,974,000 after buying an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,699,000 after buying an additional 1,092,429 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after acquiring an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was 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 $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.84.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded down $15.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $196.30. The stock had a trading volume of 11,092,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,839,324. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $228.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.27.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.