240,615 Shares in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) Purchased by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 240,615 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $31,311,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 1.17% of Materion at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Materion by 529.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 195 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in Materion during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Materion by 948.2% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 587 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Materion during the 1st quarter valued at $116,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Materion during the 4th quarter valued at $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, KeyCorp cut their price target on Materion from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st.

Materion Price Performance

Materion stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $125.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 69,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 122,971. Materion Co. has a 52 week low of $92.23 and a 52 week high of $145.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $129.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 1.14.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.03. Materion had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 5.75%. The firm had revenue of $421.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $420.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Materion Co. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Materion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Materion's payout ratio is 11.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 3,000 shares of Materion stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.74, for a total transaction of $401,220.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,940,567.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 3,000 shares of Materion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.74, for a total value of $401,220.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,940,567.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shelly Marie Chadwick sold 2,000 shares of Materion stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total value of $265,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,147 shares in the company, valued at $1,743,292.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Materion Profile

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other.