Beacon Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 13,198 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beacon Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 55.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,183 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,198 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 2.8% of Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 829,786 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $134,964,000 after purchasing an additional 58,809 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 147,740 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $24,027,000 after acquiring an additional 20,817 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 173.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 93,660 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,232,000 after acquiring an additional 59,418 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $779,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 2,477.6% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 19,873 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,102 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $137.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.37.

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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated 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 buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

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.