Haverford Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Haverford Trust Co lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in 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. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $153.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.37 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $169.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.