Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $14.73 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Bleakley Financial Group LLC cut its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,108 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,872 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $77,383,000 after purchasing an additional 157,426 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $575.39 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.46 and a 12-month high of $739.67. The company has a market capitalization of $456.84 billion, a PE ratio of 54.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $521.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $405.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Argus boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.48.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.