TIAA Trust National Association Buys 328 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,514,814,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,429 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after purchasing an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,623,048 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $953,411,000 after purchasing an additional 784,780 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. TD Cowen upped their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded down $7.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $210.26. 6,517,081 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,310,802. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company 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.