Aviso Wealth Management Invests $491,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Aviso Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,017 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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 valued at $340,895,000 after acquiring an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after acquiring an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in Applied Materials by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during 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 purchasing an additional 16,851 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. 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. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $153.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $169.60 and a 200-day moving average of $177.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.37 and a 52-week 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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 net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy 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 shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

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.