Harfst & Associates Inc. Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Harfst & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 297 shares during the quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2,401.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $445,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,444 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 301.6% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $318,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,953 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $190.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $152.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $215.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.