Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,313,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 146,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Applied Materials worth $473,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after acquiring an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after acquiring an additional 145,050 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13,360.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after purchasing an additional 689,272 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% during the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in Applied Materials by 21.8% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 6.3%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $324.74 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $326.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.82. The firm has a market cap of $257.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

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.