Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 118,706 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,822 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 11,367 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $397,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,687 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 12,950 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 692.9% in the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,425 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.1 %

AMAT traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $206.61. 1,654,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,735,640. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $171.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.84.

Applied Materials 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.