Wealthfront Advisers LLC Sells 89,242 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 79.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,771 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 89,242 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 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 worth $1,082,353,000 after purchasing an additional 84,130 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $149.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $172.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.64. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.37 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

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Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 1.23%. 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 24.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on 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, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Company 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.

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