Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 461,000 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 461,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $74,972,000. Applied Materials accounts for 1.1% of Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned about 0.06% of Applied Materials at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.86.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $174.14 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $148.32 and a 200 day moving average of $165.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G 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, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. 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 is 24.05%.

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.

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