PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,273 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Applied Materials worth $73,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $1,514,814,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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 worth $352,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after buying an additional 973,218 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $221.73. 3,627,235 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,235,533. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $225.07. The company has a market cap of $183.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.98.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.