2,879 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Guardian Partners Inc.

Guardian Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,148 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,879 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after purchasing an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,252,863,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,512,287,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.0%

Applied Materials stock opened at $408.94 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.40 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The stock has a market cap of $324.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $473.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $487.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $642.00 to $563.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $645.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. HSBC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 14th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.70.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.