Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 169,553 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 18,241 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 0.7% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 19,290 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 18,472 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after buying an additional 4,215 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $1,680,000. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.7% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 52,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,611,000 after buying an additional 2,838 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

AMAT opened at $154.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.37 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $171.16 and a 200-day moving average of $178.41.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley restated 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.