Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,228 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after acquiring an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in Applied Materials by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 16,851 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $339,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,663,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.67.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $135.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $110.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.40 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $163.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.79.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.