Invst LLC Sells 205 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Invst LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,154 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. Invst LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 worth $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 worth $407,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $14.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $181.81. The stock had a trading volume of 12,991,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,521,505. The company has a market capitalization of $150.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.40. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% 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 fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Raymond James upped their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.