Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 380,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 3.3% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $77,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $494,000. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 4,477 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,666,506 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $341,200,000 after buying an additional 15,764 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 213,109 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,632,000 after buying an additional 47,359 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,137,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $339.88 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.59. The stock has a market cap of $269.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $344.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New 2nm/GAA toolset announced — Applied rolled out Viva (radical treatment), Sym3™ Z Magnum (etch) and Spectral™ ALD (molybdenum contacts) systems that target performance and energy gains for 2nm-class AI chips; these tools are already being adopted by leading foundries, which supports AMAT’s near-term revenue and long-term competitive moat. Applied Materials Unveils Transistor and Wiring Innovations
• Positive Sentiment: Samsung joins AMAT’s $5B EPIC Center — Samsung Electronics will join the new Silicon Valley EPIC R&D center, validating demand for collaborative process/tool development and increasing the chance of multi-year equipment engagements. Samsung Joins EPIC Center
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and price-target upside — RBC reaffirmed an Outperform at $385 and multiple houses maintain buy/overweight calls and elevated median targets (~$350+), which can sustain buying interest. Analyst Rating/Reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 expectations bullish — Earnings previews (Zacks, Seeking Alpha) and option-market commentary show expectations for AI-driven strength across WFE, DRAM/NAND and displays, supporting upside to near-term revenue/earnings. Q1 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data noisy — January showed a meaningful decline in shares sold short (~13.7M, down ~14.6%), which is supportive, but Feb reporting entries contain zero/NaN figures that look like reporting errors and should be treated cautiously.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options/volatility positioning — Traders expect a sizable post-earnings move (Investopedia coverage), which can amplify intraday swings but doesn’t indicate direction until results and guidance land. Post-Earnings Options Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and “orders matter” caveat — Coverage notes the rally has stretched valuation and that follow-through depends on orders and bookings; if guidance or orders disappoint, the stock could correct quickly. Valuation/Orders Risk
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales flagged — Public filings show insider sales activity in the past six months, which some investors may view as a minor negative signal amid stretched multiples. (source: Quiver/press summaries)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $385.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.15.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and other advanced materials. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company designs and sells capital equipment and related technologies that enable production of integrated circuits, display panels and materials used across the electronics supply chain.

Applied Materials’ offerings include process equipment and factory software that support critical steps in device fabrication, such as deposition, etch, implantation, inspection and metrology, as well as systems for packaging and advanced heterogeneous integration.