Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Has $594,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,095 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,805,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $15,303,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,334 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,434 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company’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 transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $173.77 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.15. The company has a market capitalization of $139.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

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

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.