Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,554 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 2.0% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% in 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 during the period. Capital International Investors boosted 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 grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% during 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James upped their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.75 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

About Applied Materials

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.