Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Purchased by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,175 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 166,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,432,000 after purchasing an additional 5,430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $348.47 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $347.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $282.07. The firm has a market cap of $276.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.64. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.70%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% 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, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.