Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,223 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,223 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 32,893 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,468 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13,360.6% in the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after buying an additional 689,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its position in Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 501,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $91,826,000 after buying an additional 35,437 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Daiwa America downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.74.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.08, for a total transaction of $936,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 88,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,681,202.08. This represents a 4.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $224.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $218.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.89. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $242.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Applied Materials 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.