Payden & Rygel Sells 58,910 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Payden & Rygel cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 97.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,600 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 58,910 shares during the quarter. Payden & Rygel's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $5.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $132.85. The stock had a trading volume of 18,929,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,425,372. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.86 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $162.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.20. The firm has a market cap of $107.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

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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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised 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 lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.67.

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.