Insider Selling: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CAO Sells 450 Shares of Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Adam Sanders also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 24th, Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded down $12.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $135.51. 11,773,697 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,314,346. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.26 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $164.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

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 issued a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after buying an additional 16,851 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $339,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $27,663,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One 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, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.67.

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.