Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $134.22 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 825,326 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 44,900 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.10% of Applied Materials worth $134,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 710.1% during the fourth quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,854 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $5,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,922 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 23,793 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,870,000 after acquiring an additional 8,462 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 2,736 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,183 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $6,047,000 after purchasing an additional 13,198 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 829,786 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $134,964,000 after purchasing an additional 58,809 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $2.49 during trading on Monday, reaching $149.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,263,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,666,250. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $149.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.