Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,690 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 870 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $859,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 217,136 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,751,000 after acquiring an additional 5,553 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 25,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,740,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Applied Materials by 2.1% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,329,966 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $427,292,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $293,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.08.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $224.99 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $232.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.