Capital International Investors Sells 5,196,869 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital International Investors lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,685,845 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 5,196,869 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned 1.93% of Applied Materials worth $2,551,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $5.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $144.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,454,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,631,815. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.69. The stock has a market cap of $116.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following 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. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. 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. 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. Finally, Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.86.

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.