2,728 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Bought by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,728 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 69,748,762 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,567,240,000 after purchasing an additional 520,503 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,720,928,000 after buying an additional 301,010 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,911,113 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,547,031,000 after buying an additional 211,646 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,263,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,277,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,355,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,394,744,000 after acquiring an additional 366,907 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $138.25 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $145.04 and a 200-day moving average of $131.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.12 and a twelve month high of $155.26. The firm has a market cap of $116.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.16. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.27% and a return on equity of 49.29%. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 16.89%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 69,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,869,568. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,907,690.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Craig Hallum increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $139.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Applied Materials from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.41.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.