GTS Securities LLC Sells 38,281 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

GTS Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 53.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 38,281 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,356,094,000 after acquiring an additional 587,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business'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 owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, 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 corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $3.01 on Friday, reaching $157.51. 5,730,689 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,896,893. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $150.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.39. 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 has a market cap of $127.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved 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 repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on 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, Citigroup raised their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.48.

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.