Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,800 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Resource Group grew its position in Applied Materials by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 24,867 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 4,561 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.4% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 47,649 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,627,000 after buying an additional 9,941 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 70.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 4,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 54,967 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,106,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $145.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.