Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $1.98 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 12,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,979,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $173.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $147.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.68.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on 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. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.86.

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.