EPG Wealth Management LLC Trims Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

EPG Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,123 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. EPG Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in Applied Materials by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 28,517 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $522,000. Capital Advantage Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $618,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 63,640 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,350,000 after acquiring an additional 7,949 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC reduced 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 note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.86.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $153.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $147.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.45.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.