Fisher Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN)

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,863 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.77% of Materion worth $20,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in Materion by 529.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Materion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Materion by 285.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Materion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Materion by 189.6% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, KeyCorp dropped their target price on Materion from $156.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th.

Insider Activity at Materion

In related news, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 1,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $128,862.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,621 shares in the company, valued at $293,185.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.31, for a total transaction of $226,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,031 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,092.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 1,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $128,862.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,621 shares in the company, valued at $293,185.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Materion Stock Performance

Shares of MTRN stock opened at $105.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 2.91. Materion Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.23 and a fifty-two week high of $145.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $114.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53 and a beta of 1.21.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.02). Materion had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The company had revenue of $385.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Materion Co. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a $0.135 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Materion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Materion’s payout ratio is presently 13.53%.

About Materion

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other.