CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,480 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 53.2% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 337 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 372 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Emfo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 75.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total transaction of $40,640.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,297,770.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,548,110.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total transaction of $40,640.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,297,770.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Applied Materials Price Performance
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.57% and a return on equity of 55.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.
Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
Applied Materials Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 24th. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.94%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $88.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $118.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.16.
About Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation.
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