Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Acquires 1,059 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 46.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,328 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after acquiring an additional 164,085 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Applied Materials by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after buying an additional 16,851 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $27,663,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

AMAT opened at $137.46 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $153.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.20. The company has a market cap of $111.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

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

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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, March 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

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.