5,440 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Keynote Financial Services LLC

Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,440 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after buying an additional 360,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,514,814,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 7.4 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $14.49 on Friday, reaching $181.81. The company had a trading volume of 12,991,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,521,505. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $227.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $150.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its 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 company 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 company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related 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 transaction 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 approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.84.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.