Continuum Advisory LLC Buys 372 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,614 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $1,608,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $230,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.24.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $180.18 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.00. The company 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

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.