Level Four Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,996 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,452 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $319,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Applied Materials by 7.6% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 4,208 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 35.3% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 61,905 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,508,000 after buying an additional 16,137 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $792,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.7% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,006,353 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $203,334,000 after purchasing an additional 7,331 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $147.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.27 and a 200 day moving average of $177.14. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.37 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.