D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,652 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 827 shares during the period. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $319,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $92,527,000. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $323,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $591,000. Finally, Atom Investors LP grew its stake in Applied Materials by 157.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 14,967 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,024,000 after acquiring an additional 9,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Barclays lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $145.06 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $167.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.85 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $143.38 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 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 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Applied Materials

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.