Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Decreases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 71.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,604 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 101,883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,569,000 after buying an additional 3,628 shares during the last quarter. Talos Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,977,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 588,492 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $95,706,000 after buying an additional 133,740 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,394,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Applied Materials by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 58,955 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $9,550,000 after purchasing an additional 7,627 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho 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, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded shares of 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, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $152.12 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.37 and a 12 month 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.