Daviman Financial LLC Invests $594,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Daviman Financial LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,310 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 42.6% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,160,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $432.16 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $153.47 and a one year high of $448.45. The company has a market cap of $342.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $387.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $326.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,003 shares of company stock worth $2,678,139 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Applied Materials

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.