6,788 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Acquired by Dorato Capital Management

Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,788 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,744,000. Applied Materials accounts for 1.3% of Dorato Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,125,265,000 after purchasing an additional 391,540 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $348.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $276.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $346.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Corporate 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.