PFG Investments LLC Increases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,846 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Shelton Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted 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 during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted 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 during the period. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.15.

Applied Materials Stock Up 6.3%

Applied Materials stock opened at $217.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $173.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $218.44.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Sell-side 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 announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.