Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 21.8%, owning 15,036 shares after selling 4,190 during the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Applied Materials reflect a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a price target averaging $193.88, following recent downgrades from various firms.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46, with an annual yield of 1.1%, to be paid on September 11th to investors of record on August 21st.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,036 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 4,190 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Cfra Research upgraded Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $165.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.63.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. Applied Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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