Phoenix Financial Ltd. Decreases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,920 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 19,411 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 253,078 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 84,130 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $213.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89 % 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.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $1.63 during trading on Monday, hitting $143.31. 2,806,505 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,601,248. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The business's fifty day moving average is $156.82 and its 200 day moving average is $172.48.

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%. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.