Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Boosts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,312 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,495 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 1.3% of Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,409,320,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1,704.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,439,598 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $499,483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 417.3% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,732,015 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,053,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397,217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $325.24 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $331.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.79.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.89.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were 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 $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. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.