Privium Fund Management UK Ltd Has $1.90 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Privium Fund Management UK Ltd raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 232.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,880 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,510 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises approximately 0.7% of Privium Fund Management UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,429 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $12.69 on Tuesday, hitting $184.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,525,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,986,191. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $214.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.83. The company has a market capitalization of $152.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 have sold a total of 62,327 shares of company stock worth $15,338,110 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials 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.