Gries Financial LLC Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Gries Financial LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,696 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 126.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 123.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $407,699,000 after buying an additional 1,092,429 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna upped their price target 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $182.38 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $151.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $212.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.51.

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. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 62,327 shares of company stock worth $15,338,110. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.