Capital International Ltd. CA Raises Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 144.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,095 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,352 shares during the quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $137.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.20. 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 twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $111.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.