Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $16.98 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,918 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,298 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,227 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 4,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. HSBC assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.13.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $502.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $407.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.53. The company 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $510.75.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,944,800. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,461.60. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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.