Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,680 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 815 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 69,748,762 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,567,240,000 after purchasing an additional 520,503 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after purchasing an additional 301,010 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 211,646 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 53.6% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 4,277,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 366,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. New Street Research lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 19th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.41.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,907,690.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,869,568. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were 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 directly 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of AMAT traded down $5.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,363,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,994,848. The business has a fifty day moving average of $144.98 and a 200 day moving average of $131.51. The company has a market cap of $116.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.60. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $155.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.89%.

About Applied Materials

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.