Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $631.37 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,882,245 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 590,421 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.48% of Applied Materials worth $631,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Field & Main Bank lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire grew its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,998 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.86.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $151.55. 4,804,419 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,683,281. The business has a 50 day moving average of $149.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials 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.