Copperwynd Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 4,479 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Copperwynd Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,479 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $728,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $182,962,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $157,426,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.6% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $260,221,000 after buying an additional 893,995 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $155.66 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.37 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $126.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.36.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

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.