Opinicus Capital Inc. Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Opinicus Capital Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,286 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 1.3% of Opinicus Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,999 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Applied Materials by 9.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 286,616 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,682,000 after buying an additional 24,167 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 22.9% in the third quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 4,709 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 7,440 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 57,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,008,000 after acquiring an additional 26,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley upped their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $3.46 on Friday, reaching $235.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,387,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,592,667. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

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.