GAM Holding AG Increases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

GAM Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 72,603 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,910 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 0.9% of GAM Holding AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. GAM Holding AG’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $1,604,002,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,409,320,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $882,396,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1,704.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,439,598 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $499,483,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304,369 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $268.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $276.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.15. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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 expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Applied Materials 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.