Laird Norton Wetherby Trust Company LLC Takes $1.99 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Laird Norton Wetherby Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,235 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,990,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1,119.9% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 42,257 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,872,000 after buying an additional 38,793 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,534,000. Humankind Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Geller Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 3,212 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 198,858 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,340,000 after acquiring an additional 80,220 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $155.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.75. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) 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, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change 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 1.18%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.86.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by insiders.

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.