Childress Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,523 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.1% during the second quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $40,428,000 after buying an additional 8,680 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych increased its position in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,867,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 311.2% during the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 12,924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 9,781 shares during the period. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $410,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $204.73 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $177.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.06. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $215.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.77. 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 announced 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 return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm 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 company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research cut their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price target (down previously from $200.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $172.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Seventeen investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.15.

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.