Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $6.87 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1,119.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,257 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,793 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $32,534,000. Humankind Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Geller Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 3,212 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 198,858 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,340,000 after purchasing an additional 80,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,913,942 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $636,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,787 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2%

AMAT opened at $155.69 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.86.

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.