Meritage Portfolio Management Invests $240,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management has invested $240,000 in Applied Materials, acquiring 1,310 shares in the second quarter.
• Institutional ownership of Applied Materials is high, with 80.56% of shares held by institutional investors, indicating robust interest from large financial entities.
• Recent analyst ratings show mixed opinions, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.54, reflecting varying outlooks on the stock's performance.

Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,310 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company 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 note on Monday, July 7th. DZ Bank lowered Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.54.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $219.48 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $226.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.82. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $183.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

About Applied Materials

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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