Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 18.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,060 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Rheos Capital Works Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $27,663,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.3%

Applied Materials stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $157.27. 5,867,922 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,930,682. The company has a market cap of $126.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.41. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Applied Materials's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company 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 positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm'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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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 report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.48.

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.