Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 540,465 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,509 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.06% of Applied Materials worth $87,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,464,000 after acquiring an additional 793,610 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 13,929.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $834,710,000 after buying an additional 511,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 926,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $128,341,000 after buying an additional 500,900 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $5.88 on Friday, hitting $203.38. The stock had a trading volume of 3,933,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

About Applied Materials

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.