Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Boosts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,724 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 0.8% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Daiwa Capital Markets reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price (down previously from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Daiwa America lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.15.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $228.75 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $182.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $191.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $232.07.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.