465,327 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Purchased by PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 465,327 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $120,971,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total value of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares in the company, 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 ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $389.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $368.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.51 and a 1 year high of $420.50. The firm has a market cap of $308.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.82, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.70%.

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.