California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 2,091 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,159,465 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,091 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.26% of Applied Materials worth $349,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aldebaran Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $22,810,000 after buying an additional 39,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,919,000 after purchasing an additional 69,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $0.31 on Monday, hitting $189.46. 7,147,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,214,718. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $202.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.15 and a 52-week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.