Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 120,809 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,012 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 120,809 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $54,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $4.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.20. The stock had a trading volume of 2,107,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,866,906. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $150.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $126.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 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.