Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,313,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 146,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $473,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 6.3%

Applied Materials stock opened at $324.74 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $326.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $395.95. The stock has a market cap of $257.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials 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 transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

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.