Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys Shares of 981,512 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 981,512 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $159,623,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.12% of Applied Materials as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 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 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 $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.7%

Applied Materials stock traded down $4.37 on Friday, hitting $155.11. 15,237,512 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,961,412. 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 firm has a market cap of $126.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $150.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.19%. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Company 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.