ING Groep NV Invests $20.75 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

ING Groep NV bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 80,730 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,747,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total transaction of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,461.60. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock worth $27,135,121. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $453.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $408.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $343.11. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $510.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

Applied Materials Company 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.