Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,092 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,907 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $22,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,274,000. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $1,764,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $3.70 during trading on Monday, reaching $246.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,780,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,705,297. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $223.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $203.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $249.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.