Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,998 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.8 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $155.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $126.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $145.37 and a one year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $172.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.36.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.