Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 587,036 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 587,036 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,356,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Field & Main Bank lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,998 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $145.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $117.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.33 and a 200-day moving average of $176.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $143.38 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 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. 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 1.27%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on 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, KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.