Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Position Lowered by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,327,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 26,166 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of Applied Materials worth $215,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.86.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $1.75 during trading on Thursday, reaching $148.96. 6,725,748 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,713,653. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business's 50-day moving average price is $148.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.70. The company has a market capitalization of $121.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.