Bayesian Capital Management LP Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 15,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,472,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $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. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $155.10 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.88. The company has a market cap of $126.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company 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.