South Dakota Investment Council Has $21.77 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 12,100 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $21,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 35.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,671 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 49,122 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,801,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 149.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management raised its position in Applied Materials by 17.2% in the third quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 4,562 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,177 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $3.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,417,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,192,854. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $202.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.15 and a 12-month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

About Applied Materials

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.