Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Decreases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,882,245 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 590,421 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $631,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisory Resource Group grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 24,867 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after buying an additional 4,561 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.4% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 47,649 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,627,000 after acquiring an additional 9,941 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 4,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 54,967 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,106,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $150.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $122.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.16. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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 $0.46 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.23%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 24.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.86.

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.