Applied Materials’ (AMAT) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Daiwa Capital Markets

Daiwa Capital Markets reissued their neutral rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $170.00 price target on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $185.00.

AMAT has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. DZ Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Summit Insights lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.88.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $162.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $183.13 and a 200-day moving average of $166.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $215.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.7% in the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,867,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.