ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,015 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2,401.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $445,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,647,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,444 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $189.76 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $151.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price 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. Daiwa America cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.92.

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.