Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. Raises Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 140.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,656 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,888 shares during the period. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Capital International Sarl increased its stake in Applied Materials by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 54,011 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,784,000 after acquiring an additional 28,228 shares during the last quarter. Alexis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $1,461,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,263,524 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $205,362,000 after purchasing an additional 229,280 shares during the last quarter. Ally Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,952,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 873,154 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $142,001,000 after buying an additional 174,403 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $137.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.20. 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 stock has a market cap of $111.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.