Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,803 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $23,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% during the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake in Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Daiwa America cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Summit Insights cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. B. Riley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $160.76 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $215.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The business had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 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.