Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 882,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,375 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $143,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Syon Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 11,279 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after buying an additional 3,289 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,270 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 51,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,360,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded up $1.44 on Thursday, hitting $197.50. 4,232,068 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,149,218. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $164.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $203.14 and a 200-day moving average of $170.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.