Truvestments Capital LLC Sells 877 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Truvestments Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,472 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 877 shares during the quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,833 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 38,220 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,216,000 after buying an additional 8,630 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 12,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after buying an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 41,051 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,676,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 47.6% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 76,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,409,000 after buying an additional 24,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $146.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.37 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $173.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.06. The firm has a market cap of $119.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

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.