Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Holdings Lowered by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,489 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,132 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 69,748,762 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,567,240,000 after acquiring an additional 520,503 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after acquiring an additional 301,010 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,911,113 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,547,031,000 after acquiring an additional 211,646 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,263,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,277,485 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,355,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,394,744,000 after acquiring an additional 366,907 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total value of $1,420,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 69,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,869,568. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. New Street Research lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $139.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.41.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $138.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $155.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.89. The company has a market cap of $116.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.16. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.27% and a return on equity of 49.29%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.89%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.