Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Acquired by Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,724 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up 0.8% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,571 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,824,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.5% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,361 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 43.6% in the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,735 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $228.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $191.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $232.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.82.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $172.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Redburn Atlantic lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Eighteen 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.15.

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.