Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 179,260 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 65.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 455,077 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179,260 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $116,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 617.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,869,170,000 after buying an additional 7,856,576 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $685,684,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 42.6% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,247,838,000 after buying an additional 3,280,730 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $432.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $388.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $328.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.47 and a 1 year high of $448.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $342.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.14.

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.