Ninety One UK Ltd Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 150,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,478,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% during the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (down previously from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.15.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $204.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.54 and a 200-day moving average of $168.06. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $215.70. The firm has a market cap of $163.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

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.