Malaga Cove Capital LLC Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,801 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 590 shares during the quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.14.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $177.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $208.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.26. 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 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $146.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55.

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. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS 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 0.90%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.