Horizon Investments LLC Has $5.06 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 60.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,749 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $155.46 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $172.10 and a 200-day moving average of $178.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.37 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley restated 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.