Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 109,443 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 66.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,365 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 109,443 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,528,961,000 after acquiring an additional 487,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,356,094,000 after buying an additional 587,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $165.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $149.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.12. The stock has a market cap of $134.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $255.89. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AMAT. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.48.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 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 company insiders.

Applied Materials Company 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.