Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 389 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,064 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,068 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,825 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 23,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,846,000 after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in Applied Materials by 229.9% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 10,076 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 7,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 6,044 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,497 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $158.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $175.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.03. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.95 and a 52-week high of $255.89. 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 capitalization of $128.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

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.