Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Cottage Street Advisors LLC

Cottage Street Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $153.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $169.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.37 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.