FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 97,500 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 97,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,962,000. Applied Materials makes up about 1.8% of FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,761,185 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $770,065,000 after buying an additional 422,231 shares during the period. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.8% during the third quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH now owns 19,642 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 106,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,791,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,625 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Applied Materials by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 91,755 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,786,000 after purchasing an additional 21,539 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $301.18 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $302.78. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $253.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.27. The stock has a market cap of $238.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 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.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.11.

About Applied Materials

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.