California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 1,004,803 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,419,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,004,803 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.30% of Applied Materials worth $393,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 204.8% during the 4th quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 7,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 5,107 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $3,951,000. Maridea Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 743,774 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $120,960,000 after purchasing an additional 259,271 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.8 %

AMAT stock opened at $145.06 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $144.12 and a one year high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $117.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $167.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. 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. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.67.

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.