Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 19,411 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,920 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 19,411 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Field & Main Bank lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,998 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $149.73 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.51. The firm has a market cap of $121.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board 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.