Greenspring Advisors LLC Takes $427,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Greenspring Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,663 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $427,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 225.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 617.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 40.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $685,684,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $502.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $510.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $407.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $341.53. The stock has a market cap of $398.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,461.60. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $507,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, May 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.13.

About Applied Materials

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.