Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Corton Capital Inc.

Corton Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 297.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,326 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 0.7% of Corton Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Corton Capital Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 boosted its position in Applied Materials by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,263,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,277,485 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the first 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 buying an additional 366,907 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $930,505,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.08.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $2.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $144.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,358,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,013,818. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $155.26. The firm has a market cap of $121.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.95. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 EPS 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 business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.89%.

Insider Activity

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