Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 310 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 83,064 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $13,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 6,797 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 57,229 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,563,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. Finally, Centric Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 19,113 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,584,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $145.06 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.91. The firm has a market cap of $117.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.12 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.67.

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.