Greenfield Savings Bank Purchases 99 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Greenfield Savings Bank lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,248 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Greenfield Savings Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.48.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $161.74 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-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 stock has a market cap of $129.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized 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 typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.