Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 119.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 1.6% of Capital Research Global Investors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 4.12% of Applied Materials worth $8,405,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Sarl raised its position in Applied Materials by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 29,160 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,494,000 after purchasing an additional 11,427 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,774,123 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $970,006,000 after purchasing an additional 40,204 shares in the last quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 7,995 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 218.2% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,288 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,158,000 after purchasing an additional 8,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telemark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials continues to benefit from AI-related demand and a deeper push into advanced chip packaging, including its completed acquisition of ASMPT NEXX and expanded collaboration with SCREEN Semiconductor, which could support future growth in semiconductor equipment. Applied Materials Deepens AI Chip Packaging Push As Valuation Stretches
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s recent earnings results beat estimates, with stronger revenue and EPS, and management’s guidance plus recent analyst price-target increases continue to reinforce the bullish longer-term view.
• Neutral Sentiment: TipRanks noted insider trading activity in AMAT as part of a broader weekend update, adding to investor attention but not necessarily changing the fundamental outlook. Rigetti, McDonald’s, Applied Materials, GM, Rocket Lab Insiders Stir Buzz
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales by CFO Brice Hill and executive Prabu G. Raja may have pressured shares, as investors often view heavy insider selling cautiously even when the company’s outlook remains solid. Applied Materials CFO Sells Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor stocks broadly sold off after the strong jobs report and broader chip-sector weakness tied to the AVGO earnings overhang, which appears to be dragging AMAT lower with the group. Applied Materials, Lam Research, and Nova Stocks Trade Down, What You Need To Know

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,461.60. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Argus increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.13.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $453.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $510.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $408.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

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.