Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 60,340 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 99,665 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 60,340 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in 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. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 246,310 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,744,000 after purchasing an additional 10,894 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,044 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 45,139 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,551,000 after purchasing an additional 4,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Summit Insights cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.96.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $230.07 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $183.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $205.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $242.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced 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. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.93%.

Applied Materials 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.