Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 374,017 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,954 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up about 0.9% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $54,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% during the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. 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. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Summit Insights reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.84.

Applied Materials Trading Down 14.1%

Shares of AMAT opened at $161.76 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $184.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The company has a market capitalization of $129.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.