Martingale Asset Management L P Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Martingale Asset Management L P cut its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 73.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,084 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 42,145 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 611.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 824,407 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $129,477,000 after buying an additional 708,541 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 46,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,506,000 after acquiring an additional 10,005 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3,316.1% during the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 297,238 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $48,340,000 after acquiring an additional 288,537 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,306,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 7.7 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $138.24 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $112.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.10.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership 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.