46,186 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Bought by CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong

CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 46,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,456,000. Applied Materials comprises 0.3% of CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 26.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,955 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $254,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of AMAT opened at $330.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $344.60. The company has a market cap of $262.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.84.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $390.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.