CX Institutional Has $850,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

CX Institutional trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 81.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,858 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 25,546 shares during the period. CX Institutional's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $4.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $170.59. The company had a trading volume of 5,292,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,974,274. The company's 50-day moving average is $155.19 and its 200-day moving average is $163.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $136.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for 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%. The company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley upgraded Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.29.

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.