Bessemer Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,056,775 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 23,202 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Applied Materials worth $153,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $230,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $183.52. The company had a trading volume of 5,195,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,013,936. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $161.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.14. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price objective on Applied Materials and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials 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.