KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,005 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

KCM Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,545 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,005 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after purchasing an additional 330,197 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after buying an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,746,769,000 after buying an additional 1,558,749 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $502.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $525.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $599.19.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $516.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $546.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.63. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $410.39 billion, a PE ratio of 48.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. The business’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. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total transaction of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.