Corton Capital Inc. Takes $300,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,636 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Shelton Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the second 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 last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the second 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 last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Summit Insights downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.96.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $233.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $198.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.18. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $242.50. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The firm’s 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. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend 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.