Brooklyn FI LLC Acquires Shares of 4,032 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,032 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after purchasing an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 16,851 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $339,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials 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 approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $154.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.37 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.41.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. 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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.