Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,445 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.2% of Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $27,663,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional increased its position in Applied Materials by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 31,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,107,000 after purchasing an additional 10,459 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. B. Riley decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $160.52 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.07 and its 200 day moving average is $164.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $130.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.