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

Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,571 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 226,950 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,935,000 after purchasing an additional 21,974 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,777 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $224.99 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $232.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.12.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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