TIAA Trust National Association Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

TIAA Trust National Association decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,479 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Applied Materials by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,380,000 after acquiring an additional 16,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $339,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna raised 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $153.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.37 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $169.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.53.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, 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 value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.