674,446 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Voloridge Investment Management LLC

Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 674,446 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $109,685,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Field & Main Bank grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $165.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $134.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $149.52 and a 200 day moving average of $165.12. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.