Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $144.98 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 891,447 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 19,875 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Applied Materials worth $144,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 19,290 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 18,472 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 4,215 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $1,680,000. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.7% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 52,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,611,000 after buying an additional 2,838 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $154.46 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.37 and a 1 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. The firm has a market cap of $125.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.41.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials 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.