Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Capital International Inc. CA

Capital International Inc. CA decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 38.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 88,419 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 56,386 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after acquiring an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after acquiring an additional 360,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $4.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $206.47. The company had a trading volume of 5,208,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,764,418. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.75. The stock has a market cap of $170.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.84.

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.