Twin City Private Wealth LLC Buys New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Twin City Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $152.12 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.37 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $123.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $170.32 and a 200 day moving average of $177.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.