94,422 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Bought by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 94,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,356,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 2,544 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 31,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,060,000 after acquiring an additional 11,749 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,702,000 after acquiring an additional 3,462 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,023,598 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $166,730,000 after acquiring an additional 27,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $582,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $155.46 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.37 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials 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 transaction of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.