Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 1,502,995 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 23.6%, acquiring an additional 1,502,995 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $1.14 billion worth of the company's stock.
• Analysts have generally downgraded their target prices for Applied Materials, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price averaging $193.88, despite several positives in recent earnings reports.
• Applied Materials announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, representing a dividend yield of 1.1%, to be paid on September 11th, indicating ongoing shareholder returns.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 23.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.97% of Applied Materials worth $1,140,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Old Port Advisors raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.5% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 2,730 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,506 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.8% during the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.2% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the first quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 7,324 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $170.00 target price (down previously from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $160.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $215.70. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $183.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%.The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.

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