Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Holdings Raised by Alight Capital Management LP

Alight Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 33.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 1.3% of Alight Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Alight Capital Management LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 69,748,762 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,567,240,000 after buying an additional 520,503 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,911,113 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,547,031,000 after acquiring an additional 211,646 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Applied Materials by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,263,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,277,485 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,355,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,394,744,000 after acquiring an additional 366,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $930,505,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 69,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,869,568. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,907,690.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total value of $1,420,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,869,568. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $145.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,021,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,018,112. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $144.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.95. The company has a market capitalization of $122.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $71.12 and a one year high of $155.26.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.16. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 24.27%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 16.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Craig Hallum upped their target price on Applied Materials from $139.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.08.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of 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.