Strategic Blueprint LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Strategic Blueprint LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after acquiring an additional 487,358 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after acquiring an additional 253,078 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,356,094,000 after buying an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $190.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $153.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.69. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 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 0.96%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.00.

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.