Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Applied Materials by 40.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 53,854 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,456,000 after acquiring an additional 15,637 shares in the last quarter. Financial Insights Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $328,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 894.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $2,136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $243.40. 5,396,287 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,767,457. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $227.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $201.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.