Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Takes $209,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $176.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.98 and a 200 day moving average of $163.10. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $141.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in 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 a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

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.