5,868 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Bought by Twinbeech Capital LP

Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,868 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $954,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $27,663,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 31,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,107,000 after acquiring an additional 10,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. 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. TD Cowen cut their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $4.21 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $161.72. 2,169,528 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,879,369. 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 capitalization of $131.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $150.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.15.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.