Caxton Associates LLP Acquires 6,185 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Caxton Associates LLP grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 60.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,375 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,185 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho cut 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 note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.74.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

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

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $259.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $206.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $276.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $236.68 and a 200-day moving average of $199.97.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 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.