Invesco Ltd. Has $1.34 Billion Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Invesco Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,210,778 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 471,847 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.01% of Applied Materials worth $1,335,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $559,000. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 47.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 221.1% in the 4th quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD now owns 8,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 5,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $137,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.67.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $126.95 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.86 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $162.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.20. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.