Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Sells 22,394 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 89.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,725 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 22,394 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $12,528,961,000 after purchasing an additional 487,358 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.6% in the fourth 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 and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price 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 $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded down $4.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.59. The stock had a trading volume of 5,292,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,974,281. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.20. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for 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%. Applied Materials's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

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.