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

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 540,465 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,509 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $87,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.3% during the third quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 28,027 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $5.88 on Friday, reaching $203.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,933,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.15 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $203.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. TD Cowen raised their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.