Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,896 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $1,085,600,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $882,396,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2,401.0% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $445,056,000 after buying an additional 2,944,193 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 43.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $808,853,000 after buying an additional 1,691,428 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after buying an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $217.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $173.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $226.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.50 and a 200-day moving average of $169.52.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AMAT. DZ Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (down previously from $200.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price (down from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.12.

About Applied Materials

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.