Verde Capital Management Buys 2,767 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Verde Capital Management grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 91.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,796 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,767 shares during the period. Verde Capital Management's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $15,303,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.48.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $0.52 on Monday, reaching $157.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,867,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,930,683. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $150.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials 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.