Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 16,871 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 57.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,871 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,322,280,000 after buying an additional 360,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.6 %

Applied Materials stock traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $205.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,816,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,021. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $170.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.39.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials 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 value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.84.

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.