Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stake Boosted by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 19.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,681,911 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 2.0% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.32% of Applied Materials worth $2,160,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $338.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $327.82 and a 200 day moving average of $258.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $395.95. The stock has a market cap of $268.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.69, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the sale, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

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.