Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 260,480 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 28.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 657,966 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 260,480 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $107,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $154.95 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.37 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $170.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.68. The company has a market capitalization of $125.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

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, topping 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 research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

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.