Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Has $2.93 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 34.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,169 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted 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 valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% in 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 period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 28.0% in 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 period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $15,303,000. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $266,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought 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. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $170.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $136.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $156.02 and its 200 day moving average is $163.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Company 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.