Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 5,700,349 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 72.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 0.8% of Alliancebernstein L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 1.69% of Applied Materials worth $2,483,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $16,247,000. Seven Mile Advisory raised its stake in Applied Materials by 12.5% during the second quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 3,474 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 286.9% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 48,392 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,859,000 after acquiring an additional 35,885 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 41.3% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 125,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $23,018,000 after acquiring an additional 36,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $2,049,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.74.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.8%

Applied Materials stock opened at $270.11 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $276.10. The company has a market cap of $215.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.73.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company 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.