Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $15.24 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,456 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,722 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $15,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,125,265,000 after acquiring an additional 391,540 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,836,807,000 after purchasing an additional 407,282 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,936,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,635,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,604,002,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 stock was 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 directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $273.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.15.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.5%

Applied Materials stock opened at $330.57 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $344.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $289.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.84. The firm has a market cap of $262.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

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.