HF Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,286 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,640,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $161.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.31. The stock has a market cap of $129.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.