Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Acquires New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 23,944 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,184,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jag Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 210.1% during the 1st quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 69,261 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $23,673,000 after acquiring an additional 46,928 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 66,508 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926 shares in the last quarter. One Day In July LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $3,870,000. Finally, Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 70.0% during the first quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 7,545 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $560.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $531.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $445.36 billion, a PE ratio of 52.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $502.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.84.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials continues to benefit from AI-driven semiconductor spending, and management recently reinforced the view that this investment cycle could stay elevated for years, supporting a multiyear growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still see meaningful EPS growth ahead, with recent commentary highlighting strong demand trends and a higher price target from Mizuho, which can help sustain investor confidence in AMAT. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around AMAT’s valuation is becoming more cautious, with one report saying the stock appears to be trading above fair value even though earnings look roughly reasonable, suggesting limited upside from current levels. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the strong recent rally, some commentary frames Applied Materials as a long-term AI infrastructure winner, but also notes that new buyers are paying up after a very large five-year advance. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns are the main drag on sentiment today: investors may be questioning whether Applied Materials’ strong AI demand story is already fully priced into the shares after the recent surge. Article Title

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.