Greenwich Wealth Management LLC Has $8.65 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,205 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 0.6% of Greenwich Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Choate Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 27,337 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,446,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 2,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 706,729 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,935,000 after purchasing an additional 18,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M & L Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $155.66 on Friday. 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 $179.24. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.37 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $126.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials 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.