BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,818 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peloton Wealth Strategists purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $2,585,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 46,589 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $6,140,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 690.3% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 91,515 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $12,062,000 after purchasing an additional 79,935 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the first quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 50,276 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forefront Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the first quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,481 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,040,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. 77.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.30, for a total value of $1,294,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 93,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,040,484.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $135.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $133.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, July 15th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $172.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $146.04.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $5.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $104.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 246,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,118,402. The company has a market cap of $91.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.67 and a 12-month high of $167.06. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $99.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 19th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.35 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.20% and a return on equity of 57.17%. The firm's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.42 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 25th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 24th. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 13.87%.

Applied Materials Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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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