Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Holdings Lessened by Centric Wealth Management

Centric Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 91.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,648 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 17,465 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after acquiring an additional 164,085 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in Applied Materials by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Applied Materials by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 16,851 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $339,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,663,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $145.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $141.16 and a one year high of $255.89. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (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 fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. 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 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.67.

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.