MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,151 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $162.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market cap of $131.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.10. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.48.

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.