PharVision Advisers LLC Makes New $250,000 Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,536 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $27,663,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 49.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $160.52 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $150.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.96. The company has a market capitalization of $130.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. B. Riley cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased 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 owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.