Capital World Investors Sells 947,107 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Capital World Investors reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,772,397 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 947,107 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $712,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Sarl grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 29,160 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,494,000 after buying an additional 11,427 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,774,123 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $970,006,000 after buying an additional 40,204 shares during the last quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 7,995 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 218.2% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,288 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,158,000 after buying an additional 8,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $453.01 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $510.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $408.94 and its 200 day moving average is $343.11.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials’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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owned 4,280 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,461.60. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total transaction of $1,247,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 136,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,901,331.18. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HSBC initiated 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. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

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.