Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT is Palmer Knight Co’s 3rd Largest Position

Palmer Knight Co increased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 64.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,864 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,942 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 4.0% of Palmer Knight Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Palmer Knight Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after buying an additional 1,502,995 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 15.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,038,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,635 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $224.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $232.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.82.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.