BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC Invests $364,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,324 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company'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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho lowered their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.48.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $4.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $155.11. 15,237,512 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,961,412. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $126.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis 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 (DPR) is 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.