Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires 4,881 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,881 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $212,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $80,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the second quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 9,836 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 80.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,898 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 3,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 24,257 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,724,000 after buying an additional 3,165 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $169.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $139.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.05 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.