Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Holdings Reduced by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,085 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 810 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 53.2% in the third quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 337 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 55.0% in the third quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 372 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Emfo LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 75.22% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $122.60. 13,761,522 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,740,443. The company has a market cap of $103.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $142.01.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.57% and a return on equity of 55.08%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 24th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.94%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 13th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $126.00 to $139.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $279.00 to $271.00 in a report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $800,118.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,548,110.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total value of $40,640.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,297,770.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares in the company, valued at $11,548,110.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation.