Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by State of Tennessee Treasury Department

State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 341,288 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,706 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $55,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management increased its position in Applied Materials by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,130,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $221.73. The stock had a trading volume of 3,627,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,235,533. The company has a market cap of $183.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $208.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.72. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $225.07.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.04.

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.