Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $172.77 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 5.8% in Q1, owning 1,190,501 shares valued at approximately $172.77 million.
• Applied Materials has received mixed analyst ratings, with Barclays raising its price target to $170 and Rothschild & Co downgrading from "buy" to "neutral" with a $200 price target.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.1%, with a payout ratio of 21.93%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,190,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 65,478 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Applied Materials worth $172,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 972.2% in the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 435.0% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $193.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.9%

AMAT traded down $1.4050 on Thursday, hitting $159.5550. 3,107,692 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,410,404. The stock's fifty day moving average is $183.59 and its 200-day moving average is $166.36. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The company has a market cap of $128.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%.The business's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 21.93%.

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.