Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 32,893 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion lifted its position in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,924,000 after buying an additional 10,468 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 501,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $91,826,000 after buying an additional 35,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,129,000 after acquiring an additional 6,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $230.07 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $205.31 and its 200-day moving average is $184.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $242.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue 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 analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. UBS Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Eighteen 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.96.

About Applied Materials

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.