Capital International Inc. CA Sells 56,386 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital International Inc. CA trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 38.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,419 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 56,386 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,322,280,000 after buying an additional 360,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $1,514,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $4.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $206.47. The stock had a trading volume of 5,208,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,764,418. The company has a market capitalization of $170.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $229.49 and a 200-day moving average of $205.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

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.