Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Buys 1,266 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,510 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after buying an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,640,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired 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 owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Bank of America lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $169.79 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $136.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.