Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,705 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,038,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,635 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.7% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,043,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 43.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $217.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market cap of $173.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $181.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.63. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $226.49.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share 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 firm 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 posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 0.8%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Summit Insights cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.85.

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.