Grandfield & Dodd LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 252,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,956 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up approximately 2.7% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $46,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,619,000 after acquiring an additional 32,893 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,468 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 501,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $91,826,000 after purchasing an additional 35,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $14,129,000 after purchasing an additional 6,704 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $223.23 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $242.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $211.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 21.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (down from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.31.

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.