RWA Wealth Partners LLC Sells 259 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 259 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 approximately $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $145.12 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.16 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $166.39 and its 200 day moving average is $176.57. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.