Perennial Advisors LLC Acquires 6,888 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Perennial Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 45.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,886 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,888 shares during the quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,303,000. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,903 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley cut their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $166.74 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $152.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.19.

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

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.