Legal Advantage Investments Inc. Sells 700 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Legal Advantage Investments Inc. lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,471 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Legal Advantage Investments Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.50.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $209.95 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $226.49. The stock has a market cap of $167.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $182.60 and a 200-day moving average of $171.62. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’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 research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.