First Financial Corp IN Acquires 116 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 49.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $72,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3,940.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after purchasing an additional 973,218 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.9 %

Applied Materials stock traded up $4.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,777,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,801,862. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $249.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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.