Wynn Capital LLC Invests $1.21 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wynn Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,475 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,211,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,464,000 after acquiring an additional 793,610 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $441,514,000 after acquiring an additional 778,716 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13,929.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $834,710,000 after acquiring an additional 511,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 117.6% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 926,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $128,341,000 after acquiring an additional 500,900 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $2.82 on Wednesday, hitting $196.06. The stock had a trading volume of 4,605,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,173,302. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.15 and a twelve month high of $214.91. The firm has a market cap of $162.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $202.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.76.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.