Maverick Capital Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Maverick Capital Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 869,943 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 261,333 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 3.4% of Maverick Capital Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $297,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Evolve Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 59.0% in the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 82,296 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,082,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,744,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 183.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $516.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $410.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $546.28 and its 200-day moving average is $425.63.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, June 29th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Applied Materials from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, May 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $599.19.

Applied Materials 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.