Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Invests $1.50 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 6,338 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,496,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $35,000. RFP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.56.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $3.93 on Friday, hitting $207.90. The company had a trading volume of 11,644,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,003,964. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.