Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Has $104.65 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 16.0% in Q2, now holding 571,617 shares valued at approximately $104.65 million.
• Applied Materials reported a net margin of 23.88% and EPS of $2.48 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46, with a payout ratio of 21.93% and a yield of 0.8%, to be paid on December 11th.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 16.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 571,617 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 79,043 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 2.6% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $104,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,140,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,995 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,038,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,635 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,043,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,097 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $808,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.6%

AMAT opened at $228.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $232.07. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $189.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.60. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The firm's revenue 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. DZ Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.15.

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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