Capital International Sarl Has $7.49 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Capital International Sarl increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 64.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,160 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,427 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Applied Materials from $480.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,944,800. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over 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

AMAT stock opened at $453.01 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $408.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $510.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS 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 dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.