Y.D. More Investments Ltd Buys 2,500 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4,166.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,560 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 25,824.4% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $86,610,000 after buying an additional 3,357,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 5,984,332 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,537,913,000 after buying an additional 2,635,284 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. This represents a 14.17% 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, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $575.39 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $521.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $405.52. The company has a market capitalization of $456.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.03, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

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.