State of Wyoming Sells 1,295 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

State of Wyoming lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 36.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,295 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,260,178,000 after buying an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,356,094,000 after buying an additional 587,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $165.73 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.12.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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 note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.48.

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.