TFR Capital LLC. Buys Shares of 2,479 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

TFR Capital LLC. bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,479 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Field & Main Bank grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 5,327 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was 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

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $157.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.15.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

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.