Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Sells 9,400 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 9,400 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Field & Main Bank boosted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. 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. Citigroup reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.86.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $5.04 on Tuesday, hitting $173.03. 8,532,590 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,800,199. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $147.52 and a 200-day moving average of $165.62. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

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.