Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 314 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,535 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,699,000 after buying an additional 1,092,429 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $4.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $197.26. 2,362,831 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,975,443. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 69,827 shares of company stock valued at $16,935,760. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.