Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Arvest Investments Inc.

Arvest Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,941 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,020 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.38.

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Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded down $1.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $153.64. 5,093,097 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,885,608. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.37 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign 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 company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.