Capital International Investors Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,774,123 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,204 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $970,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,531,000. Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $45,700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Chad R raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Baker Chad R now owns 16,530 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,297,000 after buying an additional 7,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Argus lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Applied Materials from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 136,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,901,331.18. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $453.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $510.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $343.11.

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

Applied Materials 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.