Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Purchases Shares of 765 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 765 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $124,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $132.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $161.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.75. 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a boost 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 1.39%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.