Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Trust Co of Kansas

Trust Co of Kansas reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,619 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,181 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 1.1% of Trust Co of Kansas’ holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Trust Co of Kansas’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,122,174 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $829,935,000 after purchasing an additional 154,413 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,004,320 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $637,253,000 after buying an additional 63,907 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.0% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,546,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $595,612,000 after buying an additional 313,621 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 6,224,697 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $509,890,000 after buying an additional 74,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cowa LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $76,000. 75.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 98,332 shares in the company, valued at $11,548,110.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total transaction of $40,640.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,297,770.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 98,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,548,110.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $118.48 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $142.01.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 55.08% and a net margin of 24.57%. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 24th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 13.94%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation.