Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 189,414 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,573 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after buying an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $174.09 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $157.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.18. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $139.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought 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 $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.