Federated Hermes Inc. Has $20.27 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 110,747 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 168,985 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,836,807,000 after buying an additional 407,282 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $1,604,002,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in 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 valued at $1,455,716,000 after acquiring an additional 291,358 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,871,960 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,491,013,000 after acquiring an additional 215,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cfra Research raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. BNP Paribas raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.74.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $267.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.81 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $273.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $233.77 and its 200-day moving average is $197.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results 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 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Applied Materials Company 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.