Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Purchased by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13,360.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.09% of Applied Materials worth $127,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 32,893 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its position in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,468 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 501,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $91,826,000 after buying an additional 35,437 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,129,000 after purchasing an additional 6,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.74.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.4%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $235.13 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $216.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.70. The firm has a market cap of $187.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $242.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

Applied Materials Profile

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.