State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 273,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,540 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $50,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.1%

Applied Materials stock opened at $228.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $182.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $232.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Summit Insights downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.15.

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.