Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 3,321 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 115,385 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,321 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Applied Materials by 3,940.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 126.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after purchasing an additional 973,218 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $162,873,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 5.7 %

AMAT stock opened at $196.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $162.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $199.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 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, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.00.

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.