Delta Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Delta Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,562 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 832 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 2.2% of Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,951,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,455,716,000 after purchasing an additional 291,358 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,140,836,000 after buying an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,046,635 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $1,085,600,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,043,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Summit Insights downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.96.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $230.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.96. 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 stock has a market cap of $183.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $242.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. 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 is presently 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.