Salomon & Ludwin LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2,307.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,130 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Shelton Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,958 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $224.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $232.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $186.80 and its 200 day moving average is $174.30. The firm has a market cap of $179.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.82.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS 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 company had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 21.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 15th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (down previously from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

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.