Monetary Management Group Inc. Purchases 200 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,675 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $1,588,422,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $182,962,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1,069.9% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,079,977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $175,637,000 after purchasing an additional 987,660 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $157,426,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $260,221,000 after buying an additional 893,995 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.67.

Applied Materials Stock Down 7.7 %

AMAT opened at $138.24 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $157.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.10. The stock has a market cap of $112.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

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.