OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Sells 46,139 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 48.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,744 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 46,139 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.86.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $173.03 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.