RD Lewis Holdings Inc. Invests $582,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,236 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $582,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $155.46 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $126.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.37 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.88.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its 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, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

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.