Adam Sanders Sells 271 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.8 %

AMAT traded down $3.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $165.54. 8,564,129 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,784,667. The company has a market cap of $134.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.74. 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 posted 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 net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $372,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,972,000. H&H Retirement Design & Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $338,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 31,787 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,169,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $3,946,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.