Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,829 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 6,338 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 14.1%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $161.76 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $129.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $215.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $184.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.93%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.84.

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.