Meeder Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,239 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 17,493 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JT Stratford LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’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 owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $183.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $205.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.