Annex Advisory Services LLC Sells 13,048 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Annex Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 40.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,426 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 13,048 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $161.93 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.