KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 15,600 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 353,341 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 15,600 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $90,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $394.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $362.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.25. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $136.32 and a twelve month high of $407.29. The firm has a market cap of $312.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

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.