Quent Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.1% during the second quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $40,428,000 after buying an additional 8,680 shares during the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,867,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 311.2% during the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 12,924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 9,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $410,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. KeyCorp lifted 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, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.12.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $217.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.50 and a 200 day moving average of $169.31. The stock has a market cap of $173.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $226.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous 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 forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Applied Materials Company 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.