Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Raises Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 43.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,458 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after acquiring an additional 407,282 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $1,604,002,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,951,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,455,716,000 after purchasing an additional 291,358 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,871,960 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,491,013,000 after buying an additional 215,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after buying an additional 1,502,995 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.74.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AMAT opened at $267.14 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $273.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $233.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 (DPR) is 21.20%.

Applied Materials Profile

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.