Adam Sanders Sells 450 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Adam Sanders also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 24th, Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $8.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $126.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,559,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,363,196. 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 stock has a market cap of $103.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $162.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.37. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.94 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 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 1.45%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Barclays decreased their target price on 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. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.67.

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.