Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 515,145 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,446,419 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 515,145 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.42% of Applied Materials worth $560,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $5,497,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,588,422,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,696,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 83,064 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $13,509,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 17,476 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Applied Materials Trading Down 1.2 %

AMAT stock traded down $1.79 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $143.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,218,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,260,511. The firm has a market cap of $116.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.23 and a twelve 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.84.

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

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.