Corient Private Wealth LLC Sells 798 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Corient Private Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 389,395 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 798 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $63,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $182,962,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $157,426,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $260,221,000 after acquiring an additional 893,995 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $155.66 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.37 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.