Insiders are generally long-term investors due to restriction in making short-term profits. In contrast, wealth management institutions always have short-term investment. Wall St. Watchdog reveals information regarding the insiders and institutions which recently decreased stock shares of Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT).

SEC data indicate these insiders have sold Applied Materials Inc.’s stock since 06/30/2011:

Kifer Ron: act as Group VP & CIO. On 09/16/2011, sold 100,000 shares, worth $1,162,000.

Sweeney Joseph J: act as Sr. VP, GC & Corp. Secretary. On 09/19/2011, sold 50,000 shares, worth $559,500.

Kifer Ron: act as Group VP & CIO. On 09/08/2011, sold 50,000 shares, worth $544,500.

Pappis Charles C: act as Group VP, GM AGS. On 09/09/2011, sold 5,698 shares, worth $61,500.

SEC data indicate that these institutions significantly reduced their stock shares of Applied Materials Inc. in Q3 2011:

ARTISAN PARTNERS HOLDINGS LP: On 06/30/2011, held 14,759,550 shares, worth $189,217,431. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.

PGGM INVESTMENTS: On 06/30/2011, held 2,761,294 shares, worth $35,399,789. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.

CADENCE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC: On 06/30/2011, held 2,060,755 shares, worth $26,418,879. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.

ATHERTON LANE ADVISERS, LLC: On 06/30/2011, held 1,286,203 shares, worth $16,489,122. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.

EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF TEXAS: On 06/30/2011, held 929,900 shares, worth $11,921,318. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.

About the company: Applied Materials, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and services semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment and related spare parts for the worldwide semiconductor industry. The Company’s customers include semiconductor wafer and integrated circuit manufacturers, flat panel liquid crystal displays, solar photovoltaic cells and modules and other electronic devices manufacturers.

Competitors to Watch: Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVLS), KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC), Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX), Mattson Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTSN), FSI International, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSII), Tegal Corporation (NASDAQ:TGAL), Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS), Ultratech, Inc. (NASDAQ:UTEK), CVD Equipment Corporation (NASDAQ:CVV), and ASM Intl. N.V. (NASDAQ:ASMI).

(Note: Data regarding Applied Materials Inc.’s stock holdings are sourced from whalewisdom.com. All data are assumed to be accurate.)

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