New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 823,108 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 25,069 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Applied Materials worth $133,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 20,343 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 5,185 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 81,110 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,145,000 after purchasing an additional 9,262 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Applied Materials by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,465 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boit C F David purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $454,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.39.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $207.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $195.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.05. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.00 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.