Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,142 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delphi Management Inc. MA boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 7,305 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 344,063 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $55,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,241 shares in the last quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 153,781 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $153.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.57. The stock has a market cap of $124.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 24.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.