Capital International Sarl Purchases 28,228 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital International Sarl increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 109.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,011 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,228 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Alexis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,461,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Applied Materials by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,263,524 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $205,362,000 after purchasing an additional 229,280 shares in the last quarter. Ally Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,952,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 873,154 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $142,001,000 after purchasing an additional 174,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,172,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.86.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $5.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $143.43. 3,192,470 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,630,840. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $150.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.69. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

About Applied Materials

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.