New York State Common Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,125,014 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,849 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of Applied Materials worth $182,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 75,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $12,244,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in Applied Materials by 74.0% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 42,644 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $6,935,000 after acquiring an additional 18,130 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 3,039 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,789 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $8,585,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,561 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded down $4.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.98. 7,364,128 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,722,227. The company has a market cap of $139.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.96 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $175.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released 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, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Applied Materials Company 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.