Farther Finance Advisors LLC Sells 238 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,595 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $15,303,000. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $175.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $155.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

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.