Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 5,443 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 448,393 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,443 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $72,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,663,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $45,862,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 31,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,107,000 after buying an additional 10,459 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AMAT opened at $165.94 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $149.52 and its 200 day moving average is $165.12. The company has a market capitalization of $134.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.48.

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.