Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 1,131 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,026 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th 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 grew its position in 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 worth $2,226,581,000 after acquiring an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after acquiring an additional 360,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,514,814,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Bank of America lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $5.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $174.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,887,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,066,871. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $209.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.27. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $144.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.