Viawealth LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Viawealth LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,032 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $154.46 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.37 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $125.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $171.16 and its 200 day moving average is $178.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 1.19%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

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.