AGF Management Ltd. Raises Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,410 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,348 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,223 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 5,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $155.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $126.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.37 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. 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 1.18%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials 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.