FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Sells 517 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,513 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 517 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 211.6% in the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 170.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.8% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 5,910 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $168.51 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $136.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $175.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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.