Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 31,534 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 177,866 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 31,534 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $28,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 333.8% in the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 295 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 795.0% in the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 26,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Monday, reaching $189.46. The company had a trading volume of 7,147,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,214,718. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $202.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.38. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

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.

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