Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd Invests $448,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,756 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after purchasing an additional 487,358 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report 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 target for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $4.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $155.11. The stock had a trading volume of 15,237,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,961,421. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.92. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for 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%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Applied Materials

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.