B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 51,570 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 133,911 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 51,570 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $21,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.67.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $145.06 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $143.38 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $117.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a PEG 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.33 and a 200-day moving average of $176.84.

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

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 1.27%. 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 payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

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.