Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,284 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 283 shares during the quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials 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 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 trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $154.61 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $125.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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 $0.46 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

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

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.