Puzo Michael J Acquires 7,916 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Puzo Michael J raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 85.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,212 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,916 shares during the period. Puzo Michael J’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,125,265,000 after purchasing an additional 391,540 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,836,807,000 after purchasing an additional 407,282 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 13.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,936,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,635,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were 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 $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,914,628. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AMAT opened at $369.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $302.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.35. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $376.32. The stock has a market cap of $293.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. Applied Materials’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.04.

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.