Nordea Investment Management AB Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,467,216 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,250 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.31% of Applied Materials worth $514,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $224,000. TruWealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Centurion Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $235,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 7,166 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $307.24 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $255.04 and its 200 day moving average is $214.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $243.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $309.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 21.20%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. B. Riley upped their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.89.

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.