DRW Securities LLC Buys 2,136 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 90.3% during the first quarter, now owning 4,502 shares valued at $653,000.
• Research firms have adjusted ratings on Applied Materials, with DZ Bank downgrading the stock to a "sell" and setting a price target of $150.00, while Needham & Company maintains a "buy" rating with a price target of $195.00.
• Applied Materials announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, yielding approximately 1.1%, payable on September 11th.

DRW Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 90.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,502 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 91.5% during the first quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa America downgraded Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $180.00 target price (down from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $156.25. 7,258,444 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,406,159. The stock has a market cap of $124.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $215.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.12.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The company 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 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials 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.