Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,620 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 839 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.6%

AMAT stock opened at $240.89 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $191.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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 last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.96.

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.