Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 286,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,112 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $41,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 13.2% during the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 129,260 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,757,000 after buying an additional 15,044 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.3% during the first quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Bulltick Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $990,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.1% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 488,513 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $70,893,000 after buying an additional 23,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 135.9% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 101,811 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $14,775,000 after buying an additional 58,657 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.09.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.3%

AMAT stock opened at $184.38 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $215.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.37. The firm has a market cap of $147.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.