Aprio Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,575 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after purchasing an additional 973,218 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after acquiring an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after purchasing an additional 570,080 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $6,598,500. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $235.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The company has a market cap of $194.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.62.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend 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.