Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 9,672 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.9 %

Applied Materials stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $139.47. 3,703,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,642,057. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.64. The stock has a market cap of $113.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

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 (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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.