Earnest Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 324,843 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 86,345 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $52,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.86.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $1.75 on Thursday, hitting $148.96. The stock had a trading volume of 6,725,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,713,653. The stock has a market cap of $121.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $148.12 and a 200 day moving average of $167.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. 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 1.24%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

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.