Willis Investment Counsel Raises Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 111,254 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,542 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,267,000. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 14.6% during the second quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,263 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 13,360.6% in the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $127,129,000 after acquiring an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management boosted its position in Applied Materials by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 3,130 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,262,058 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $231,045,000 after purchasing an additional 119,844 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Daiwa America cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.74.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $220.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $175.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $242.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $217.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.92. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

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.