Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $142 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 873,154 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 174,403 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.11% of Applied Materials worth $142,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $137.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Applied Materials Company 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.