Wedbush Securities Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Wedbush Securities Inc. lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,956 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shelton Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% in the second quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% in the second quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,958 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. 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 report on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.96.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $230.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $183.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $242.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s 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. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

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.