Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Center for Financial Planning Inc.

Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 46.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 834 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 32,893 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,129,000 after purchasing an additional 6,704 shares during the last quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,428,000 after purchasing an additional 8,680 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 77,171 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,128,000 after purchasing an additional 35,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 99,713 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $233.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $198.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.64. 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 $242.50. The company has a market cap of $185.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 21.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.96.

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.