Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys 4,500 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. has raised its stake in Applied Materials, increasing its holdings by 2.7% to 174,053 shares, now valued at approximately $25.3 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Wall Street analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Applied Materials, with Rothschild & Co Redburn lowering their rating from "buy" to "neutral" and setting a target of $200.00.
• Applied Materials reported a quarterly EPS of $2.48, exceeding analyst expectations, with quarterly revenue rising 7.7% year-over-year to $7.30 billion.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 174,053 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $25,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 101,883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $14,785,000 after buying an additional 16,972 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,190,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $172,765,000 after purchasing an additional 65,478 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 74.2% during the 1st quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 8,236 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 7,096 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,017 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $54,277,000 after acquiring an additional 29,954 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $1.7420 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $160.4780. The company had a trading volume of 7,094,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,422,733. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.39. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $215.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%.The company's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. 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 year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 21.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic cut Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $193.88.

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.