OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 30,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,492,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cfra Research raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $285.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Summit Insights lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.74.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $275.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $219.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $276.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $234.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The business’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, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.