Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 43.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,534 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,504 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 617.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,869,170,000 after buying an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $685,684,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $348.47 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $346.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the sale, the director owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

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.