Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. Has $319,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. cut its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,201 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 122.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,581 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 5,280 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 59.5% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 39,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,731,000 after acquiring an additional 14,740 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.6% in the first quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,315 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 27,878 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,046,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 22,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,283,000 after purchasing an additional 6,161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.8%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $180.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.00. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm has a market cap of $144.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.24.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

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

Applied Materials Company 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.