Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Acquired by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,151 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 1,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.3% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,053 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 96.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 930 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $203.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $162.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.77. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $215.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.21.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released 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 return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’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. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Summit Insights lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.15.

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.