Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Jump Financial LLC

Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 69.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,829 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $0.76 on Monday, hitting $150.79. The stock had a trading volume of 7,052,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,684,759. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.94. The company has a market cap of $122.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 24.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.86.

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.