KCM Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,094 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,406 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 1,317 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Applied Materials by 18.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 59,700 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,062,000 after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares during the last quarter. Whitford Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $3,226,000. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 20,059 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,053,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,266,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 6.3 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $126.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.37. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.94 and a twelve 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. 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 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.