Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) to Buyback $10.00 billion in Shares

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.4 %

AMAT stock opened at $149.06 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.85. The company has a market capitalization of $121.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $145.37 and a 12 month 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, 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.