Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC Has $14.74 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 38.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,662 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 56,717 shares during the quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Advisory Resource Group boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 22.5% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 24,867 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,561 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 26.4% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 47,649 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $9,627,000 after acquiring an additional 9,941 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 4,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 54,967 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $11,106,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $137.46. The company had a trading volume of 6,485,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,640,953. The firm's fifty day moving average is $154.51 and its 200 day moving average is $171.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 24.05%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.