Voleon Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 21,010 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,010 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,417,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.86.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $149.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $121.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. 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 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $148.55 and its 200-day moving average is $167.82.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared 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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.