Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 570,063 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 71,791 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $82,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 2,401.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $445,056,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 18,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,647,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814,444 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Applied Materials by 43.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $808,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,428 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 23.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,995 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $167.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $215.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $177.79 and a 200 day moving average of $164.72. The stock has a market cap of $133.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.92.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.