Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 5,822 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,706 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,822 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,514,814,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after buying an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,699,000 after buying an additional 1,092,429 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after buying an additional 973,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,623,048 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $953,411,000 after acquiring an additional 784,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. TD Cowen lifted their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $206.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,654,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,735,640. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $229.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.53. The stock has a market cap of $171.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

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.