F&V Capital Management LLC Purchases 6,359 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

F&V Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,810 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,359 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 3.8% of F&V Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. F&V Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 4.8% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,362 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 105.7% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 112,478 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,573,000 after purchasing an additional 57,791 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,578 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,201 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $232.17. 4,815,485 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,794,307. The firm has a market cap of $192.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $249.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.84.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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. 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.