Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,092 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.5 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $152.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.37 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.