AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 32.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,605 shares during the period. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $166.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.24. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm 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 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Materials

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.