New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Has $6.42 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,486 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.10.

Applied Materials Trading Down 8.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $169.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $175.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $137.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

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.