Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 18,760 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 706,729 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,760 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $114,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. M & L Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,106,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $846,000. Copperwynd Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $728,000. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its position in Applied Materials by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 35,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,721,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.8 %

AMAT opened at $155.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $145.37 and a one year high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

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

About Applied Materials

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.