D1 Capital Partners L.P. Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 181,283 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $29,482,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $182,962,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1,069.9% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,079,977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $175,637,000 after purchasing an additional 987,660 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,426,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $260,221,000 after buying an additional 893,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $1.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $151.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,804,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,281. 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 company has a market cap of $123.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm's fifty day moving average is $149.54 and its 200-day moving average is $168.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors 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 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 1.21%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.86.

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.