IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $18.64 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Posted by MarketBeat News on Aug 1st, 2022

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 16.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 141,449 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,444 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.0% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 4,141 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 310.3% during the first quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,157 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. City State Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $963,000. Finally, Castellan Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,021,000. 77.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $153.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $174.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.04.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 15,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.30, for a total value of $1,294,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,040,484.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.8 %

AMAT opened at $105.98 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.67 and a fifty-two week high of $167.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.81. The company has a market capitalization of $92.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by ($0.04). Applied Materials had a return on equity of 57.17% and a net margin of 27.20%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 25th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 24th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.87%.

About Applied Materials

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.