Point72 Europe London LLP Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Point72 Europe London LLP invested approximately $5.67 million in Applied Materials, acquiring 39,100 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Several institutional investors, including Ameriprise Financial Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, increased their stakes in Applied Materials significantly during the same period.
• Applied Materials has received mixed ratings from analysts, with current price targets ranging from $180 to $220, and an average target price of $193.88.

Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 39,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,674,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 13,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,130,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 155,012 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $25,210,000 after buying an additional 21,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $3.19 on Tuesday, reaching $157.57. 7,677,166 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,968,223. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $181.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.17. The company has a market cap of $125.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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 research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.