Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $32.59 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 159,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $32,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company reached a civil settlement with the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and says DOJ and SEC closed related probes — the outcome removes legal uncertainty and lets management refocus on growth. Applied Materials Reaches Resolution with the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: RBC reiterated Outperform and other firms (B. Riley, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank) have raised ratings/targets, supporting upside expectations into earnings. Royal Bank Of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)
• Positive Sentiment: B. Riley recently raised its AMAT price target to $400 (reaffirmed Buy), reflecting confidence in strong FY?Q1 results and AI-driven demand. B. Riley Raises Applied Materials Price Target to $400
• Positive Sentiment: Applied unveiled new deposition/etch/ALD systems (Viva, Sym3 Z Magnum, Spectral) targeted at 2nm GAA logic — tools are being adopted by leading foundries and address AI compute demand. Applied Materials Unveils Transistor and Wiring Innovations for Faster AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Samsung will join Applied’s new $5B EPIC R&D center — a strategic partnership that strengthens customer ties and long-term equipment demand. Applied Materials Announces Samsung Electronics Will Join the New, Multibillion-Dollar EPIC Center
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings and demand backdrop: previews point to strong wafer?fab and display strength driven by AI, but valuation is elevated after the recent rally ahead of Q1 results. Applied Materials Q1 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest notes are mixed/confusing in data feeds (recent reporting shows large changes and low days-to-cover); not a clear near-term driver. Quiver Quant Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Applied agreed to pay $252.5M to the Dept. of Commerce for alleged export non?compliance (Nov 2020–Jul 2022) — a material one?time charge that will hit cash/earnings for the period and raises questions about past compliance controls. Applied Materials to pay $252 million to resolve illegal chip exports, US says (Reuters)

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $339.88 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $344.60. The company has a market capitalization of $269.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $285.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $273.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.15.

Applied Materials 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.