Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $1.13 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 80.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,559 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,244 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 34.8% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 93 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $484.19 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $560.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $453.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $384.25 billion, a PE ratio of 41.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total value of $14,704,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Craig Hallum upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group set a $675.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $659.83.

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.