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

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,923 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 8,263 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $25,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $379,275,000 after acquiring an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $2.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $171.13. 6,604,442 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,194,366. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $148.05 and a one year high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $141.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.37.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $220.29.

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.