California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 850,552 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 55.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,380,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 850,552 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.30% of Applied Materials worth $435,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after buying an additional 407,282 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $1,604,002,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,951,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,455,716,000 after purchasing an additional 291,358 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,871,960 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,491,013,000 after purchasing an additional 215,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $268.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $273.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $231.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

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.