Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 32.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 587,716 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 279,100 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $107,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after buying an additional 407,282 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,951,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,455,716,000 after acquiring an additional 291,358 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,995 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $1,409,320,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,038,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $226.01 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $242.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (down previously from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.74.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.