Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 51,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,360,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,270 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 11,279 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 882,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $143,079,000 after purchasing an additional 53,375 shares during the period. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now 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 is available 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 value of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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 analyst reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $202.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $219.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Applied Materials 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.