Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 94,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,356,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,082,353,000 after acquiring an additional 84,130 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $155.46 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.37 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $172.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $126.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is an increase 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 24.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.