Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Raises Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,438 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,412 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Field & Main Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,998 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $143.58 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.51. The firm has a market cap of $116.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase 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 1.28%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho reduced 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. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.