Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Position Increased by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,216 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,428,000 after purchasing an additional 8,680 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 311.2% during the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 12,924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 9,781 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $410,000. Finally, LifePlan Financial LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $755,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $209.95 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $226.49. The company has a market cap of $167.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.79.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Seventeen investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.50.

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.