Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Has $4.01 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,629 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up approximately 1.2% of Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,651,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,989 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,503,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 157.2% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 4,560 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after buying an additional 2,787 shares during the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,593,870 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $584,471,000 after acquiring an additional 161,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $149.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $172.82 and a 200-day moving average of $179.64. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.37 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $121.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. 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 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.