Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Purchases 427 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,157 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 427 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $182,962,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $157,426,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.6% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $260,221,000 after purchasing an additional 893,995 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $155.68 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $173.96 and a 200 day moving average of $181.01. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.55 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials 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.