2,484 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,558 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,484 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $13,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,576,932,000 after buying an additional 1,073,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $740.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. HSBC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.70.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $390.09 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $203.40 and a one year high of $739.67. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $457.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $443.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.