Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 160,005 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 8,789 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $23,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,260,178,000 after buying an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.24.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $183.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.22. The firm has a market cap of $147.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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