SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,403 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $145.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $165.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.27. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $141.16 and a one year high of $255.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $118.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in 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 often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.