Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 933 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 933 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $1,588,422,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after buying an additional 84,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.86.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.8 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $143.58 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $150.33 and its 200 day moving average is $169.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. 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 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a share buyback 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 1.28%. This is a positive change 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 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.