NS Partners Ltd Purchases 2,802 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

NS Partners Ltd boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 139,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,802 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 4.3% of NS Partners Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $100,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $605.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total value of $14,704,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $458.46 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $547.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $458.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $363.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

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.