Andra AP fonden Has $64.24 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Andra AP fonden trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 272,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 30,300 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 1.1% of Andra AP fonden’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $64,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $177.55 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $146.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was 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. 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.