Insider Selling: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CAO Sells $65,173.50 in Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $46,807.12.

Applied Materials Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $126.95 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.94 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.27. The firm has a market cap of $103.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, 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 the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. 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 1.45%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after acquiring an additional 487,358 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,178,000 after purchasing an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.