Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by NS Partners Ltd

NS Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 139,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,802 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 4.3% of NS Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $100,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $657.76.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 284,192 shares of company stock valued at $172,625,209. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $458.46 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $547.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $458.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The stock has a market cap of $363.83 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

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.