Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 93.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 90,763 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.29.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $137.90. 2,428,535 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,625,530. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $154.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.64. The company has a market capitalization of $112.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition 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 Applied Materials 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale 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.