Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $4.95 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,514 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,286 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during 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. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 252.0% in the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 89.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after buying an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 9.2 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $141.94 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Bank of America lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

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.