Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 68.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,960 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,514 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $35,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,223 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 98,484 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,899,000 after acquiring an additional 15,755 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.1% in the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 11,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $794,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays cut their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.8 %

AMAT stock opened at $155.66 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.37 and a twelve 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.15. The company has a market capitalization of $126.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.