Brooklyn FI LLC Invests $656,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,032 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,996 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 8,048 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $157.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.15. The company has a market cap of $127.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.48.

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.