Beacon Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 13,198 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beacon Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 55.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,183 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,198 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 2.8% of Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

AMAT stock opened at $137.46 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.37. 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 company has a market cap of $111.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. 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 1.34%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value 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 $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

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.