Martingale Asset Management L P Has $2.45 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Martingale Asset Management L P trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 73.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,084 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 42,145 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after acquiring an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $1,588,422,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after purchasing an additional 84,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp upgraded 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $0.92 on Tuesday, reaching $145.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,662,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,597,294. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The firm's 50-day moving average is $156.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.