Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Perennial Advisors LLC

Perennial Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 45.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,886 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,888 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.6%

AMAT opened at $166.74 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $152.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.