Empirical Asset Management LLC Invests $293,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Shelton Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% in the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the second quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.8% during the second quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,958 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the second quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target (down from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $224.99 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $179.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $232.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.12.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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