LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Invests $1.88 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,969 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,881,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now 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. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $177.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.26. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Applied Materials’s 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.