Cetera Advisors LLC Acquires 40,573 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 166.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,573 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $13,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after purchasing an additional 682,098 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,322,280,000 after purchasing an additional 360,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,514,814,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $14.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $181.81. The stock had a trading volume of 12,991,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,521,505. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $227.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.40.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.