Guinness Asset Management LTD Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Guinness Asset Management LTD trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 224,688 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,578 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $41,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 27.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,571 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,824,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in Applied Materials by 11.8% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 4,285 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,145 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 200.4% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Cfra Research raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.15.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $228.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $182.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $232.07.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue 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 research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.93%.

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.