Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,944 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

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

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $152.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.37 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $170.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.89. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

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.