OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,344 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,879 shares during the quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $0.32 on Tuesday, reaching $150.47. 1,686,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,665,960. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. 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 company has a market capitalization of $122.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The business's 50 day moving average price is $149.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.86.

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.