Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT is Van ECK Associates Corp’s 6th Largest Position

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,681,911 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 2.0% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,160,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after acquiring an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,409,320,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Applied Materials by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1,704.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,439,598 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $499,483,000 after buying an additional 2,304,369 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $338.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $395.95. The company has a market cap of $268.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.