NEOS Investment Management LLC Buys 21,312 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,012 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,312 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $17,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,914,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 252.7% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 7,640 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,398,416 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $237,973,000 after buying an additional 120,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,840 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $150.68 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.34. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $145.37 and a one year 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 market capitalization of $122.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.46 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.