Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 34,316 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,794 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,316 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 126.6% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $260,221,000 after buying an additional 893,995 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $379,275,000 after buying an additional 877,133 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $175.62 and its 200 day moving average is $183.74. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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 increased their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.