Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 4,866 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,983 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 4,866 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% in the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price target on Applied Materials and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.24.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $183.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $147.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $162.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials Profile

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.

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