Cresset Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,499 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,711 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 341,288 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,313,000 after purchasing an additional 36,706 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 12,664 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 73,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 390,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $63,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,022 shares during the period. Finally, EHP Funds Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. EHP Funds Inc. now owns 2,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $229.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $230.07. The company has a market capitalization of $190.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,598,500. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.04.

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.