Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,964 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 purchasing an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $1,514,814,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $3.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $235.99. 5,716,426 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,781,751. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $249.42. The stock has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.73.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

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.