Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 417.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 825,750 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 666,059 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up approximately 0.9% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Applied Materials worth $134,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Barclays dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $165.94 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.12. The company has a market cap of $134.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

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

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

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.

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