State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 3,200 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,555 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 3,200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $39,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 246,310 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $35,744,000 after buying an additional 10,894 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 300,020 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $43,539,000 after acquiring an additional 85,037 shares during the last quarter. Lountzis Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Lountzis Asset Management LLC now owns 120,219 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $18,128,000 after acquiring an additional 13,570 shares during the last quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,391 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 2,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Narus Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.65.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $197.93. 4,423,891 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,109,438. The company has a market capitalization of $158.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $248.81. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $171.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.98.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Applied Materials's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

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.