Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 29.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38,220 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 8,630 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $950,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,776 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 47.6% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 9.8% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.38.

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Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $149.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.64. The firm has a market cap of $121.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.37 and a twelve month high of $255.89. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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 research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend 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 currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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