Thomasville National Bank Has $279,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Thomasville National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 50.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,920 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,805,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $15,303,000. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $266,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho cut their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $170.59 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $156.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The company has a market cap of $136.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

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