Cascade Financial Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cascade Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,199 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 50.5% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,529,562 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $645,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,919 shares during the period. Nwam LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,009,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $525,000. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $247,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $5,926,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Daiwa America downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Cfra Research raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eighteen investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.31.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $228.67 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $208.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $242.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

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.