Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Acquires New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 816 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $133,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Florida Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,763 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Potentia Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $824,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 92,921 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,996 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,538,743 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $250,246,000 after purchasing an additional 13,667 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $150.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $122.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 simple moving average is $169.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.34. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.37 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

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.