Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,381 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,710 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 91.5% in the first quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.48.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2%

AMAT stock opened at $268.63 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $228.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.48. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $269.15. The company has a market cap of $214.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.