Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Triangle Securities Wealth Management

Triangle Securities Wealth Management increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,775 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $134,555,000 after purchasing an additional 54,261 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 12.6% during the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 75.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.16.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $122.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,761,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,599,542. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.12 and a twelve month high of $142.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $114.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.66 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 55.08% and a net margin of 24.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 24th. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 17.16%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,548,110.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares in the company, valued at $11,548,110.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total value of $40,640.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,297,770.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation.