Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,740 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 20,817 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $1.38 on Friday, hitting $151.55. 4,803,276 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,662,574. The firm has a market cap of $123.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.16. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.