Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Increases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 147,740 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,817 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price target 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. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $137.46 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.37.

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, topping 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 research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.