Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Position Raised by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,175 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $348.47 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $347.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.07. The company has a market capitalization of $276.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $395.95.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given 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 is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.