Commerce Bank Has $8.23 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Commerce Bank cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,888 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Resource Group grew its position in Applied Materials by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 24,867 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,561 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.4% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 47,649 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,627,000 after buying an additional 9,941 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 4,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 54,967 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,106,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $137.46 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $111.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $152.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 24.05%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

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.