New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Acquires 7,600 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,586 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $3.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $235.99. 6,387,433 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,592,667. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $249.42. The company has a market cap of $195.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $218.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.83.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

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.