Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 60.8% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 608 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 11,935 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in Applied Materials by 344.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,945 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,232,000 after acquiring an additional 16,235 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,013 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.00.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $183.20 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.04. The firm has a market cap of $148.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.