Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,304 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% during the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 435.0% in the 1st 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. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the 1st 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. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.15.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2%

AMAT stock opened at $203.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given 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 yield of 0.9%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.