Vestor Capital LLC Has $15.48 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Vestor Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8,799.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 51,883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,300 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 1.6% of Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $15,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 98,769.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 811,480,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $117,291,355,000 after buying an additional 810,659,490 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $930,505,000. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $76,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 79,147.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,726,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $557,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $38,700,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $149.74 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $125.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.68 and a 12 month high of $155.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $139.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.18.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 16.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James started coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.59.

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.