DRW Securities LLC Sells 1,326 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

DRW Securities LLC trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 35.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,366 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,326 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after buying an additional 84,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $138.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $112.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $157.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.10.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased 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 owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.67.

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.