Sienna Gestion Sells 10,047 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Key Points

• Sienna Gestion sold 10,047 shares of Applied Materials, reducing its position by 8.9%, with remaining holdings valued at approximately $14.5 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades include Wells Fargo raising its price target to $215 and Citigroup increasing it to $220, reflecting strong positive sentiment towards the stock.
• Applied Materials announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46, which translates to an annualized yield of 1.0%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 21st.

Sienna Gestion lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,753 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 10,047 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 1.2% of Sienna Gestion's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Sienna Gestion's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 972.2% during the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $26.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $161.76. The company had a trading volume of 31,753,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,199,587. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.70. The firm's fifty day moving average is $184.18 and its 200 day moving average is $166.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 21.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.84.

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.