AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,451 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,528,961,000 after acquiring an additional 487,358 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after buying an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after buying an additional 84,130 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,609,399 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,169,768,000 after acquiring an additional 440,076 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’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 $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $145.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $167.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.91. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.12 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. Research 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 buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target 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, November 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.67.

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.