Curat Global LLC Purchases New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

by · The Markets Daily

Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 21,681 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,146,000. Applied Materials makes up 3.8% of Curat Global LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after buying an additional 253,078 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.48.

View Our Latest Stock Report on AMAT

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $164.19 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.80 and its 200-day moving average is $163.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $131.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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