Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,555 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,428,000 after acquiring an additional 8,680 shares during the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 311.2% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 12,924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 9,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $410,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Summit Insights lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.12.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $211.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $226.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $180.63 and its 200-day moving average is $170.31.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. 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.