Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires 7,648 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,534 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,648 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $77,383,000 after purchasing an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total transaction of $116,370.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,461.60. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $507,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,944,800. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $502.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $398.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $407.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $510.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 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.