WINTON GROUP Ltd Grows Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,359 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC now owns 48,364 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,429,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,987 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 66,125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $16,982,000 after acquiring an additional 12,918 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 49,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,802,000 after acquiring an additional 5,264 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $453.01 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $510.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $408.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target for the company. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.13.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 136,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,901,331.18. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.