Forum Financial Management LP Lowers Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Forum Financial Management LP decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,481 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 1,662 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,805,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 45.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 183,841 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $29,898,000 after buying an additional 57,263 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $5.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $154.27. The stock had a trading volume of 4,483,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,908,240. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $150.64 and its 200 day moving average is $163.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This 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 company insiders.

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.