Caprock Group LLC Purchases 5,422 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,422 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $1,764,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.4% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 19,263 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $243,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. 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 report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.75 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

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.