Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Has $646,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 22.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,142 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after acquiring an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $1,514,814,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

AMAT stock opened at $235.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $249.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

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.