Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $666,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,094 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 17,476 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $399,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 108,012 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $17,566,000 after acquiring an additional 21,312 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,914,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.8 %

AMAT opened at $145.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $167.33 and a 200-day moving average of $176.90. The company has a market capitalization of $117.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.12 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.67.

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.