Farther Finance Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,595 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after buying an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,640,000 after buying an additional 9,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $175.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $155.19 and its 200-day moving average is $163.22. The stock has a market cap of $140.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company 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.