Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Buys 507 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,029 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,588,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814,444 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 301.6% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $318,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Applied Materials by 10,767.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,347,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $219,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,180 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price 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 upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $166.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.23 and a 200 day moving average of $163.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Applied Materials

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.