Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 749,837 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 28,915 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Applied Materials worth $121,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 223,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $43,910,000 after acquiring an additional 27,348 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,527 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 30.5% in the third quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 10,241 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,069,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $400,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $2.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.00. The stock had a trading volume of 10,416,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,723,199. The business's fifty day moving average is $175.31 and its 200-day moving average is $184.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $139.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.