Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,549 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 23.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 15.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,038,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,635 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 20.7% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,043,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 43.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $178.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $176.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.99. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $215.70. The stock has a market cap of $141.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price objective (down from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.92.

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.