Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 59.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,267 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,938 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after purchasing an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after buying an additional 371,866 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after buying an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after buying an additional 318,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after acquiring an additional 84,130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $155.32 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.78. The stock has a market cap of $126.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.55 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

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.