Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,918 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,066 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA boosted its position in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 10,191 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $37,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 19,290 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.6% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 18,472 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 4,215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $153.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.37 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Profile

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.