Allianz SE Makes New $1.90 Million Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 11,594 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, 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 value 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. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $145.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $117.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.90. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.12 and a 12 month 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.

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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.