Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 94,861 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,849,953 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 94,861 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.23% of Applied Materials worth $268,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 37.2% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 10,385 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the first quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,188 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,106,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 9,510 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $351,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,571 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,824,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.3%

AMAT stock opened at $173.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.15. The company has a market cap of $139.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.